13th International Congress
THE "NEW FRONTIERS"
OF ARRHYTHMIAS 1998

January 24-31, 1998
Marilleva, Trento, Italy

RT-200

Sustained atrial tachycardia. Electrophysiological characteristics and effects of radiofrequency ablation

Benito Musto, Ciro Cavallaro, Antonio D'onofrio*, Carmine Musto, Filippo Vecchione, Ciro Caputo.
Divisione di Cardiologia, Ospedale V. Monaldi, Naples, *Divisione di Cardiologia, Ospedale A. Cardarelli, Naples, Italy

Introduction

Sustained atrial tachycardias are relatively uncommon arrhythmias that may be difficult to control with standard antiarrhythmic medications^1,2. These arrhythmias may occur as a primary disturbance of cardiac rhythm or may develop as a complication of other cardiac disorders. In patients with sustained atrial tachycardia progressive cardiac dilatation and congestive heart failure may occur that are potentially reversible on control of the arrhythmia^2,3. Because of their poor response to medical therapy, atrial tachycardias are increasingly being approached with radiofrequency catheter ablation and this is a highly effective technique with a low incidence of side effects^4-7.

We report electrophysiological characteristics and effects of radiofrequency catheter ablation in 33 patients with sustained atrial tachycardia.