COMPARISON OF MEDICAL-CARE COSTS BETWEEN SUCCESSFUL RADIOFREQUENCY CATHETER ABLATION AND SURGICAL ABLATION OF ACCESSORY PATHWAYS IN THE PEDIATRIC AGE GROUP

Short-term follow-up of radiofrequency catheter ablation (RFCA) has shown that it is a safe and effective procedure for the treatment of medically resistant supraventricular tachycardia in both adults and children. 1-3 Before the advent of RFCA, the most common technique for ablation of supraventricular substrates involved open-chest surgery. An important advantage of RFCA over surgical ablation (SA) is the anticipated reduction in medical costs associated with a catheter procedure versus an open-chest surgical procedure. This study compares the cost of radiofrequency catheter ablation with those of surgical ablation for the treatment of supraventricular tachycardia in a pediatric population. © 1994.