Aims: Although arrhythmia surgery and radiofrequency catheter ablation to cure atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia differ in technical concept, the late results of both methods, in terms of elimination of the arrhythmogenic substrate and procedure-related new and different arrhythmias, have never been compared. This constituted the purpose of this prospective follow-up study.
Methods and results: Between 1988 and 1992, 26 patients were surgically treated using perinodal dissection or 'skeletonization', and from 1991 up to 1995, 120 patients underwent radiofrequency modification of the atrioventricular node for atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia. The acute success rates of surgery and radiofrequency catheter ablation were 96% and 92%, respectively. Late recurrence, rate in the surgical and radiofrequency catheter ablation groups was 12% and 17%, respectively. Mean follow-up was 53 months in the surgical group and 28 months in the radiofrequency catheter ablation group. The final success rate after repeat intervention was 100% in the surgical group and 98% in the radiofrequency catheter ablation group. Comparison of the initial and recent series of radiofrequency catheter ablated patients showed an increased initial success rate with fewer applications. In the radiofrequency catheter ablation group, a second- or third-degree block developed in three patients (2%), requiring permanent pacing, whereas in the surgical group no complete atrioventricular block was observed. Inappropriate sinus tachycardia needing drug treatment was observed in 13 patients (11%), mostly after fast pathway ablation, but was never observed after surgery. New and different supraventricular tachyarrhythmias arose in 27% of the patients in the surgical group and in 11% of the radiofrequency catheter ablation group, but did not clearly differ.
Conclusion: This one-institutional follow-up study demonstrated comparable initial and late success rates as well as incidence of new and different supraventricular arrhythmias following arrhythmia surgery and radiofrequency catheter ablation for atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia. Today radiofrequency catheter ablation has replaced arrhythmia surgery for various reasons, but the late arrhythmic side-effects warrant refinement of technique.