title: Can radiofrequency current isthmus ablation damage the right coronary artery? Histopathological findings following the use of a long (8 mm) tip electrode.
abstract: This report describes the histopathological findings following successful RF isthmus ablation for common atrial flutter in a 68-years-old man using a long 8-mm tip ablation catheter. No acute complication was observed. The patient died 3 weeks after ablation due to severe heart failure and consecutive pneumonia. Lesion width (1.0 and 2.4 cm) and depth (0.4 and 0.8 cm) was measured. The right coronary artery showed an intramural hemorrhage adjacent to the side of the lesion. However, despite this finding no apparent injury of other layers of the coronary artery was detectable.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, University Hospital Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany. Weiss@uke.uni-hamburg.de
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Weiss
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Becker
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hoffmann
authors.forename: Stephan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Willems
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001282:Atrial Flutter / Q000150:complications / Q000601:surgery*; D017115:Catheter Ablation / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000295:instrumentation; D003331:Coronary Vessels / Q000293:injuries* / Q000473:pathology; D004566:Electrodes; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000150:complications; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male