Treatment of Arrhythmias by Radiofrequency Ablation

Radiofrequency ablation may be described as a thermal strategy to destroy tissue by increasing its temperature and causing irreversible cellular injury. Radiofrequency ablation is a relatively new modality which has found use in a wide range of medical applications and gained acceptance. RF ablation has been used to destroy tumors in the liver, prostate, breasts, lungs, kidneys, bones, and eyes. One of the early clinical applications was its use in treating supraventricular arrhythmias by selectively destroying cardiac tissue. Radiofrequency ablation has become established as the primary modality of transcatheter therapy for the treatment of symptomatic arrhythmias. Radiofrequency catheter ablation of cardiac arrhythmias was investigated using a finite-element based solution of the bioheat transfer equation. Spatial and temporal temperature profiles in the cardiac tissue were visualized.