title: Low energy direct current ablation in patients with the Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome: clinical outcome according to accessory pathway location.
abstract: Forty-five patients with the Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome underwent direct current (DC) ablation using a low energy power source (Cardiac Recorders). Anodal shocks of 10-40 joules were given to either a 6 French quadripolar catheter (Bard), a 7 French bipolar contoured catheter (Bard), or a 7 French deflectable catheter with a 4-mm distal electrode (Mansfield). The indifferent electrode consisted of a large patch that was positioned under the left scapula. There were 26 males and 19 females, with a mean age of 34 years (range 9-67). Accessory pathways were located in the left free wall in 30 patients (67%) and were posteroseptal in 15 patients (33%). The shortest ventriculoatrial interval during mapping (89 +/- 21 msec), the mean cumulative amount of energy per patient (322 +/- 283 joules), and the mean CK-MB rise (45 +/- 30 units, normal 0-30 units) were not significantly different between both groups. Ablation was successful in 29/30 patients (97%) with a left free-wall accessory pathway, and in 13/15 patients (87%) with a posteroseptal accessory pathway. All three patients with failure of ablation had multiple accessory pathways, and two of these patients had Ebstein's anomaly. Patients with left free-wall and posteroseptal accessory pathways, respectively, differed significantly in terms of: total session time (4.1 +/- 1 hours vs 5.3 +/- 1.3, p = 0.0001), total procedure time for ablation (2.6 +/- 0.8 hours vs 3.2 +/- 1.2, P = 0.02), and fluoroscopy time (46 +/- 24 min vs 64 +/- 29, P = 0.006). In 13 patients (29%) with a concealed accessory pathway, these variables were not significantly different from patients with overt preexcitation.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Montreal Heart Institute, Quebec, Canada.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lemery
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Talajic
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Roy
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Coutu
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lavoie
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lavallée
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cartier
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004562:Electrocardiography; D004564:Electrocoagulation / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006329:Heart Conduction System / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014927:Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery*