Expert consensus on catheter ablation of ventricular a...( Boston 14th May 2009: A call to act...),Health

Boston 14th May 2009: A call to action for more research to be undertaken into catheter ablation in the field of ventricular arrhythmia (VA) has been issued in a joint consensus document from the European Heart Rhythm Association (EHRA) a registered branch of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) and the US Heart Rhythm Society (HRS). The consensus document - launched at Heart Rhythm 2009, the Heart Rhythm Society's 30th Annual Scientific Sessions, to be held 13 to 16 May in Boston - provides an up to date review of indications, techniques and outcomes of catheter ablation for treatment of ventricular arrhythmias, a technique now being offered to increasing numbers of patients.

"In the last few years there has been a substantial evolution of techniques for catheter ablation in VA. We hope this document will help identify the areas in catheter ablation that require further research, and encourage clinicians to embark on more clinical and registry studies," says Etienne Aliot, the European co-chair from Nancy, France. "It is only by conducting more clinical trials and registries that we can begin to get an idea of exactly how catheter ablation fits into the whole VA treatment paradigm including Implantable Cardio Defibrillators (ICDs) and antiarrhythmic drugs."

The document - authored by 20 leading European and US electrophysiologists - recognises there is still "very limited" data establishing the long term impact of catheter ablation on morbidity and mortality.

Unanswered questions highlighted by the joint document include:

• the long term efficacy of catheter ablation
• the comparative success rates of drug and ablative therapies
• can ablation slow the progression of ventricular remodelling in structural heart disease?
• definition of patients with different underlying cardiac and non cardiac diseases.

"Over the past decade there has been great progress with important advances
'/>"/>