Postoperative Influences of Surgical Cryoablation for Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome

We evaluated postoperative myocardial enzymes and function associated with cryoablation in 20 patients with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome undergoing surgical treatment for a single left-sided accessory conduction pathway. Ten patients underwent endocardial atrial incision with cryoablation using CO2 at -60°C for 120 sec (group A), while the remaining 10 patients did not receive cryoablation (group B). Levels of aspartate aminotransferase (GOT), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and creatine kinase (CK-MB) on postoperative days 1, 2, and 3 were higher in patients in group A than in group B (p<0.05). However, mean values remained low (GOT, 120.5 IU/L; LDH, 1105.1 IU/L; CK-MB, 76.3 IU/L). No electrocardiographic changes were detected. Parameters of cardiac function, including cardiac index, stroke volume index, systemic vascular resistance, and ejection fraction, remained unchanged during the postoperative period in both groups. Furthermore, 201Tl cardiac scintigraphy demonstrated no evidence of myocardial perfusion defects due to cryoablation in group A. In conclusion, myocardial damage induced by cryoablation is very minor and is not associated with any clinical impairment of cardiac function. (Jpn Circ J 1997; 61: 396 - 401)