Cryoablation Heart Surgery

Arrhythmias affect approximately 3.5 percent of the population or more than 4 million primarily older Americans each year. If left untreated, arrhythmias can lead to serious consequences including heart failure. Physicians at The Nebraska Medical Center are among a few medical centers in the country and the only center in the region to offer a new, safer method of treating and virtually eliminating the most common arrhythmias in both children and adults with less chance of complications. The procedure, called cryoablation, uses a freezing method as opposed to heat to disable arrhythmias permanently. This freezing technique, also called cryotherapy, preserves normal electrical conduction by freezing tissue or heart pathways that interfere with the normal distribution of the heart's electrical impulses.

The standard mode of treatment, radiofrequency catheter ablation, uses heat to burn tissue near the source of the arrhythmia. This can cause damage to the normal conduction system, producing heart blockages in one to five percent of patients, who will then require a pacemaker. The application of cryotherapy is much less likely to cause heart blockages because it can be controlled more effectively. Unlike radiofrequency catheter ablation, if the technique does appear to be producing positive results, the cardiologist electrophysiologist can stop the process early and reevaluate the source of the arrhythmia without permanent effect on the heart. Another negative affect of radiofrequency catheter ablation is that some patients will experience pain during the procedure. Cryoablation does not cause pain.