PRIME Minister Tony Blair can look forward to a quick recovery after undergoing treatment for an irregular heartbeat, a cardiologist said.

The procedure, called catheter ablation, is a simple technique that thousands of patients in the UK undergo each year, according to Professor John Camm.

The Sedgefield MP's procedure comes after he was treated for an atrial flutter last year, which has now returned.

But Prof Camm, a professor of cardiology with the British Heart Foundation, said the treatment should stop the problem returning.

The doctor in charge of yesterday's procedure was cardiologist Dr Punit Ramrahka, who also treated Mr Blair for an irregular heartbeat last October.

Dr Nick Linker, of James Cook University Hospital, in Middlesbrough, is one of only about 70 heart specialists who regularly perform catheter ablation in the UK.

Dr Linker, said the procedure was very effective with only about ten per cent needing repeat treatment.

"Mr Blair is suffering from an electrical problem, it does not imply that you have anything wrong with your heart. We are not talking about coronary heart disease or heart attacks," said Dr Linker.

The consultant said that the aim of catheter oblation was to "break a faulty circuit" by destroying a tiny area of the heart. "I tell patients that I am an electrician rather than a plumber," he said.

The procedure involves making a small incision in the upper leg and feeding a length of wire up into the heart through the arterial system.

X-rays are used to steer the wire to exactly the right place then radio waves are sent down the catheter to heat up the tip.

"It is a bit like boiling an egg. We kill the targeted cells by gentle heating rather than burning," said Dr Linker.

"It is also a very exact technique. You are aiming for a precise point a millimetre wide with a piece of wire three-and-a-half-feet long. The heart is also moving during the procedure, he added.

Last year, the James Cook consultant performed about 120 catheter ablations. Usually patients have the treatment because of heart palpitations.