Atrial and ventricular approaches for radiofrequency catheter ablation of left-sided accessory pathways

Abstract Radiofrequency ablation has been very successful in the treatment of Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome. 1,4 Two approaches for left-sided pathways have been described. The retrograde aortic approach involves arterial puncture and advancement of the catheter under the mitral leaflet to the ventricular aspect of the annulus. The transseptal approach consists of crossing the atrial septum with a luminal catheter through which the ablation catheter reaches the atrial aspect of the mitral annulus. The proponents of each approach have reported excellent success. 1,2 The present report describes experiences with each approach performed in 1 laboratory.