Cor Vasa 2012, 54(11-12):e352-e360 | DOI: 10.1016/j.crvasa.2012.11.010

Catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation - Update focused on the Czech Republic

Robert Čihák^*

Klinika kardiologie, Institut klinické a experimentální medicíny, Praha, Česká republika

^* za Pracovní skupinu arytmie a trvalá kardiostimulace ČKS

Today, catheter ablation has become a routine part of rhythm control in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). In the Czech Republic (C.R.), these procedures are recorded in a nationwide registry, which is ma-naged online and gives an overview on procedure rates and development trends. Palliative procedures, i.e. AV node ablation, are infrequently used nowadays and their rate did not change significantly within last 15 years. Contrary to that, the rate of selective ablation procedures of AF is steeply rising. In the C.R., these procedures are carried out in 10 centers, and 1,590 ablation procedures of AF were carried out in the year 2011. With its ablation rate per million inhabitants the C.R. ranks among the highest in Europe. For ablation, radiofrequency energy is used most frequently (93%), followed by cryoenergy (5% procedures), and laser energy (2% procedures). Of the 3-dimensional electroanatomical mapping methods the system Carto (66% ablations) and NavX system (22% ablations) are used most frequently. Real-time imaging using intracardiac echocardiography is widely used (73% ablation), which results in enhanced safety of the procedures. Mortality associated with AF ablation is 0.04% (3 cases out of the total of 7,300 ablation procedures in the registry).

Keywords: Ablation registry; Atrial fibrillation; Catheter ablation; Czech Republic

Received: November 14, 2012; Accepted: November 15, 2012; Published: November 1, 2012  Show citation