INFLUENCE OF RADIOFREQUENCY CATHETER ABLATION ON MYOCARDIAL-METABOLISM

We investigated the change of the arterial-coronary sinus lactate diff erence before and after radiofrequency ablation to assess the influenc e of radiofrequency ablation on myocardial metabolism. Sixteen patient s underwent radiofrequency catheter ablation and blood sampling. The p atients were further divided into two groups according to the energy r eceived, group 1 (n = 8) with lower energy and group 2 (n = 8) with hi gher energy. The postpacing arterial-coronary sinus lactate difference was significantly higher than that 1 min after ablation (0.18+/-0.16 vs. -0.08+/-0.14 mmol/l, P<0.01). The mean arterial-coronary sinus lac tate difference obtained at 3 min, 5 min and 10 min increased graduall y and finally approximated the postpacing lactate difference. The arte rial-coronary sinus lactate difference 1 min after ablation of group 2 was significantly lower than that of group 1 (-0.03+/-0.14 vs. -0.13/-0.14 mmol/l, P<0.01). The arterial coronary sinus lactate difference s of group 2 obtained at 3 min, 5 min and 10 min were also lower than those of group 1. However, the difference between the two groups decre ased with time. This finding suggests that radiofrequency energy has a n influence on the myocardial metabolism and higher energy causes more metabolic alteration than lower energy.