Radiofrequency catheter ablation of atrioventricular junctional ("AV nodal") reentrant tachycardia in patients with implantable cardioverter defibrillators

Catheter ablation of tachycardias has been undertaken successfully in patie nts with ICDs without damage to the ICD or lead. Ablation of the slow AV no dal pathway however, is technically challenging because the lead of the ICD lies close to the ablation site. We report successful ablation of AV junct ional reentrant tachycardia (AV)RT) in three patients with ICDs. In all cas es, the ablation site was within a few millimeters of the ICD lead. The abl ation was successful in all cases and did not cause damage to the ICD or le ad. The patients have remained free of recurrence of AVJRT during a mean fo llow-up of 12 months.