Tissue ablation technique saves defibrillator patients from more painful shocks
This article was originally published in Clinica
Executive Summary
Burning out damaged heart tissue using radio-frequency ablation reduces the number of shocks given by defibrillators implanted in patients with irregular heart rhythms. Ventricular ablation improves the quality of patients' lives and should be used more frequently, suggest scientists at the University of Michigan in the current issue of the American Heart Association journal Circulation. In 1995 around 17,000 patients in the US received implantable defibrillators (ICDs) after surviving heart attacks.