RT-108
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Catheter ablation in orthotopic
heart transplant recipients
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Maurizio Gasparini, Massimo
Mantica, Maurizio Lunati*, Fabrizio Pizzetti°, Augusto Foresti, Alessandro Pellegrini*.
Operative Unit of Cardiology, Clinical Institute Humanitas, Rozzano (MI),
*Department of Cardiology and Cardiosurgery "A. De Gasperis", Niguarda Hospital,
Milan,
°Division of Cardiology, S. Spirito Hospital, Casale Monferrato (AL), Italy
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Abstract
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Cardiac arrhythmias following heart transplantation
are common and may be associated with poor hemodynamic tolerability and clinical signs of
heart failure. Catheter mapping in these patients is characterized by some difficulties
related to the anatomy of the transplanted heart, which is usually torqued clockwise, and
to the presence of surgical scar. Radiofrequency ablation in some forms of atrial
tachycardia, ventricular pre-excitation or atrioventricular reentrant tachycardia has been
successfully performed, without any acute or late complication. This important therapeutic
opportunity has led the main centres to consider as possible heart donors also patients
with known asymptomatic electrophysiological abnormalities; for this reason, an increasing
number of transplanted patients will probably undergo catheter ablation, in the next
future.
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Key Words
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Radio frequency catheter ablation of
tachyarrhythmias
orthoptic cardiac transplantation, recipient - donor heart, postoperative arrhythmias, R
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