Introduction and objectives: This article reports the findings of the 2008 Spanish Catheter Ablation Registry, as compiled by the Spanish Society of Cardiology Working Group on Electrophysiology and Arrhythmias.
Methods: As in previous years, data were collected in two ways: retrospectively using a standard questionnaire sent to electrophysiology laboratories by the Working Group on Electrophysiology and Arrhythmias, and prospectively from a central database. Each participating center selected its own preferred method of data collection.
Results: Fifty five Spanish centers contributed data voluntarily. In total, 7741 ablations were analyzed, averaging 141+/-97 per center. The three most frequently treated conditions were atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia (n=2302; 31%), typical atrial flutter (n=1720; 22%) and accessory pathways (n=1658; 21%). The fourth most common condition was atrial fibrillation (n=829; 11%), which accounted for 18% more procedures than in 2007. Overall, the success rate was 93%, major complications occurred in 1.7%, and the mortality rate was 0.03%.
Conclusions: Registry data for 2008 show that the number of ablations carried out continues to increase, and has exceeded 7000 for the second time. In general, the success rate was high and there were few complications. Typical atrial flutter, requiring cavotricuspid isthmus ablation, has become the second most frequently treated condition. A moderate steady increase in the number of ablations for atrial fibrillation was also observed.