ABSTRACT
The present study investigated the effect of radiofrequency (RF) current energy energy on the release pattern of myocardial marker proteins in 44 patients undergoing RF catheter ablation of supraventricular and ventricular tachycardia serial measurements of the activity of enzyme creatine kinase (enzymatic method), CK-MB isoneration TnT Enzymum ELISA, Boehringer Mannheim). The results showed that nearly all (91 percent) of the patients studied demonstrated a significant elevation in cTnT concentration following transcatheter applications of RF energy, whereas only 12 (27 percent) and 13 (29 percent) patients exhibited a postprocedural increase in CK and CK-MB activity, respectively. In contrast to the variable time for peak activity of CK and CK-MB, 40 of the 44 patients displayed an early peak cTnT concentration at eight hours after the procedure with a subsequent decline thereafter. Levels of cTnT and, to a lesser extent, CK but not CK-MB activity corressory pathways or atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia. In conclusion, cardiac troponin T is a more sensitive indicator of RF energy-induced myocardial injury and has a more uniform pattern of myocardial release than the conventional CK and CK-MB. Determinations of cTnT serum concentration may thus provide a reliable method for assessing the extent of myocardial damage and for monitoring complications developed after radiofrequency or other froms of treascatheter ablation procedures.