title: [Pulmonary vein ablation in atrial fibrillation. Initial experience].
abstract: Despite the progress in the knowledge of the pathophysiology of the atrial fibrillation (AF), the pharmacologic and non pharmacologic approach to prevent and control this arrhythmia has been shown to be discouraging. In the past few years a new type of AF has been described, of which the focal mechanism -especially bound to the pulmonary veins- allows ablation treatment through the radiofrequency (RF) with a catheter. We present our initial experience with this type of method, in two young patients who suffered from multiples episodes of AF and resistance to the conventional treatment. In both patients the RF ablation was done in the left superior pulmonary vein. One of them received an ablation in only one focus, and the other needed a veno-atrial disconnection through the elimination of the pulmonary venous potential from this vein. After three month of follow-up, patients remain asymptomatic with no relapse.
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Arritmias, Electrofisiología y Marcapasos, Instituto de Cardiología, Hospital Italiano, Córdoba, Argentina.
authors.forename: José Luis
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Velarde
authors.forename: Ricardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Martellotto
authors.forename: Mauricio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Scanavacca
authors.forename: Aldo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Arévalo
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Colque
authors.forename: Marcelo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jiménez
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001281:Atrial Fibrillation / Q000601:surgery*; D017115:Catheter Ablation; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011667:Pulmonary Veins / Q000601:surgery*