Cardiac ablation, also called catheter ablation or radiofrequency ablation, describes a non-invasive procedure performed to treat heart arrhythmias. Normally the heart pumps when electrical impulses travel from the upper chambers—the atria, to the lower chambers—the ventricles. Conditions of cardiac arrhythmia occur when the heart produces additional electrical impulses or the impulses travel along extra pathways. Cardiac ablation destroys the areas of the heart causing the arrhythmia. Although the Heart Rhythm Society reports cardiac ablation as being successful in 90 to 98 percent of cases, the procedure poses some dangers.
Heart Valve Damage
The heart contains four chambers: the left and right atria, and the left and right ventricles. Blood pumps through the chambers with the help of one-way flaps known as heart valves. During a cardiac ablation procedure, a long narrow tube known as catheter is inserted into the heart through a blood vessel. A fluoroscope, a machine similar to an X-ray machine, allows doctors to visualize the location of the catheter, which contains electrodes to measure the electrical activity in the heart. In order to obtain a complete map of electrical activity, the catheter travels through the heart valves into the different chambers. This can damage the heart valve, causing it to either open incompletely or fail to close completely.
Esophageal-Atrial Fistula
Atrial fibrillation, the most common type of heart arrhythmia, according to the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, occurs when disorganized electrical signals cause the two upper chambers of the heart to contract irregularly and rapidly. Cardiac ablation procedures used to treat atrial fibrillation can cause a life-threatening complication known as esophageal atrial fistula. The wall of the left atrium is adjacent to the esophagus--the tube that leads from the mouth to the stomach. Ablation procedures that utilize radiofrequency to destroy the damaged tissue in the heart cause an increase in the temperature within the lining of the esophagus, as described by research published by Dr. Jennifer Cummings and associates in the “Annals of Internal Medicine.” This increase in temperature can cause the death of cells in the esophagus, leading to an opening between the esophagus and the left atria in the heart.
Blood Clots
As the catheter runs through the blood vessels, it can cause damage to the walls of the vessels. This damage can cause platelets, specialized blood cells, to aggregate to the area of damage resulting in the formation of a blood clot. Blood clots pose added dangers as the clots can dislodge and travel through blood vessels leading to the heart, lungs or brain. Blood clots can block the flow of blood to the heart resulting in a heart attack. Blood clots that block the flow of blood and, therefore, oxygen to the brain can cause a stroke.
