Embolic complications associated with radiofrequency catheter ablation

Although radiofrequency (RF) ablation has been shown to be both an effective and safe curative therapy for a number of tachycardia mechanisms, early and late thromboembolic complications may occur. In several recent large series, the incidence of thromboembolic complications has been reported to be between 0.8% and 1.3%.(1-3) When embolic complications after RF ablation procedures involving left heart targets were examined specifically, 1 series reported an embolic complication rate of 2.0%.(4) To further investigate this issue, the thromboembolic complications seen in 758 patients participating in the clinical trial of the Medtronic CardioRhythm Atkar (San Jose, California) radiofrequency catheter ablation system were examined.