Depending on which structure is damaged, the consequences can be “dire”, said Dr Seow, who is also senior consultant at the Department of Cardiology.
For instance, if there is damage to the food tube that runs behind the heart, that can result in atrial-esophageal fistula which can lead to stroke, infection or bleeding, he said.
NEWER ABLATION TECHNIQUE
In contrast, the newer technique, called pulsed field ablation, uses electrical pulses which makes the procedure more precise as it is very “tissue-selective”, he said.
“It manages to deliver the ablation lesions within the heart muscle without causing damage to nerves, blood vessels, and the esophagus,” he said.
The new technique is already being used in Europe and Australia. The hospital said trials with the new method of doing ablation using pulsed field have shown that damage to surrounding veins has dropped from 3 per cent to none at all.