BIOPHYSICAL AND ELECTRICAL ASPECTS OF RADIOFREQUENCY CATHETER ABLATION

Radiofrequency (RF) catheter ablation is becoming increasingly accepted as the treatment of choice for definitive management of a variety of supraventricular arrhythmias in selected patients. Many interdependent variables may affect the amount of tissue heating at the target site. Power controlled RF devices may fail to ablate the targeted tissue due to a mismatch between the actual resistance of the electrode-tissue interface and the internal resistance of the RF generator. Conclusion: the use of temperature controlled RF devices may optimize power delivery to the tissue and therefore facilitate radiofrequency catheter ablation procedures.