RADIOFREQUENCY ABLATION OF ATRIAL-FLUTTER

RF Ablation of Atrial Flutter. Atrial flutter can be understood as atr ial tachycardia due to a single intra-atrial macroreentrant circuit th at is determined by fixed or functional bounderies, In various types o f atrial flutter, radiofrequency ablation has become an established cu rative therapy. During the course of an ablation procedure, five steps can be distinguished: (1) determination of the reentrant circuit; (2) identification of the bounderies; (3) proof of the participation of a n isthmus between the bounderies in the reentrant circuit; (4) connect ion of the barriers by a linear lesion; and (5) proof that the line of block is complete. After establishing these five steps, the acute and long-term results of atrial flutter ablation are comparable to those of other supraventricular tachycardias, In this review, we discuss the se principles of atrial flutter ablation with an emphasis on typical a trial flutter.