A new study from John Swietlik and our clinical group looked at microwave ablation in 13 patients with pacemakers. The distance between the microwave antenna and nearest pacemaker lead was 9-30 cm. There were no significant cardiac or device complications associated with microwave energy delivery. This is not surprising, as the frequency of microwave ablation (2.45 GHz) should not interfere with the frequencies required for neural stimulation or pacemaker function (≤ kHz). The main risk would seem to be heating of the pacemaker lead, which is unlikely so long as the lead is 2-3 from the emitting region of the antenna.
Read the full text: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvir.2018.12.001