ablation must transect thickness of heart QUESTION

[Guest guest]

SHORT EXCERPT ABOUT ABLATION:

Feld, M.D., cardiologist: " Those medications are effective in about 50-

or 60-percent of patients. Not everybody will be adequately controlled. "

Dr. Feld used a new freezing technique called cryoablation to fix Corrine's

atrial fibrillation.

Feld, M.D., cardiologist: " We actually freeze around the pulmonary

veins, which are the source for the premature beats. "

Using cold tip catheters, he freezes tissue to minus 90 degrees. Lesions created

in the heart interrupt the electrical conductivity that causes the atrial

fibrillation.

QUESTION:

Some on the AF board have informed me that a successful ablation must

penetrate the entire THICKNESS of the heart from inside to outside.

I keep seeing references to the LESIONS created by ablations.

A lesion is not considered to be more than a surface artifact..... right?

Anyone have an answer about this " through the entire thickness of the heart? "

LJ