Who needs catheter ablation?

Your doctor may recommend catheter ablation if

• You have an arrhythmia that medicine can't control.
• You can't tolerate the medicines your doctor has prescribed for your arrhythmia.
• You have certain types of arrhythmia, such as Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome or some forms of atrial fibrillation.
• You have abnormal electrical activity in your heart that raises your risk for ventricular fibrillation (a life-threatening arrhythmia) and sudden cardiac arrest.

This answer from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute has been reviewed and/or edited by Dr. William D. Knopf.