How to ablate: Atriale tachykardie

The ectopic atrial tachycardia is diagnosed in approx. 10 to 15 % of suprav entricular tachycardias. Since medical therapy is often shown to be ineffec tive, ablative procedures became especially important in this disease. Loca lization of the arrhythmia foci seems to be concentrated at anatomical pref ormations like the crista terminalis, right or left atrial appendage orific e or at the superior pulmonary veins. The P-wave vector in the surface ECG is predictive for focus localization: a positive or biphasic P-wave in aVL for right atrial foci, a positive P-wave in V1 for left atrial foci. Cathet er ablation therapy is also shown to be very effective in this kind of supr aventricular tachycardia.