title: Atrial flutter: arrhythmia circuit and basis for radiofrequency catheter ablation.
abstract: The term atrial flutter was introduced 90 years ago for an arrhythmia with a unique electrocardiographic pattern. The development of endocardial mapping techniques in the last decade allowed the detailed characterization of the tachycardia circuit and the identification of the cavotricuspid isthmus as its critical part. This review stresses the position of atrial flutter in the new classification of atrial tachycardias and focuses on its unique electrophysiological characteristics and different variants described in humans. Transcatheter radiofrequency ablation across the cavotricuspid isthmus constitutes a feasible and safe therapy, which prevents flutter recurrences during the long-term follow-up. This paper describes the different techniques that validate bidirectional isthmus block, which is an important endpoint for successful ablation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiac Diseases, San Filippo Neri Hospital, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Csaba
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Földesi
authors.forename: Claudio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pandozi
authors.forename: Petr
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Peichl
authors.forename: Alan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bulava
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Castro
authors.forename: Filippo
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lamberti
authors.forename: Leonardo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Calò
authors.forename: Maria Luisa
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Loricchio
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Santini
mesh_terms: D001145:Arrhythmias, Cardiac / Q000145:classification / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery; D001282:Atrial Flutter / Q000145:classification / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D017115:Catheter Ablation; D004562:Electrocardiography; D022062:Electrophysiologic Techniques, Cardiac; D006329:Heart Conduction System / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans