[Current treatment of Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome and ventricular tachycardia: surgical ablation versus catheter ablation?].

From November 1973, 454 patients with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome underwent surgical ablation of accessory pathways. Overall curative rate was 94% in our series including 65 cases of simultaneous surgical repair for combined heart diseases. In recent months, radiofrequency catheter ablation was applied in 7 cases. There has been 2 failures, which have taken more than 2 hours of radiation exposure and have required surgery. There has been 47 patients who underwent surgical ablation for non-ischemic ventricular tachycardia. Forty cases (85%) had a successful outcome of surgical ablation and another 2 cases required DC catheter ablation postoperatively to eliminate ventricular tachycardias. In conclusion, radiofrequency ablation of WPW syndrome in patients without combined heart disease or multiple accessory pathways is feasible. Surgical ablation is effective and safe technique compared with catheter ablation in patients with ventricular tachycardia.