scholarly journals Concomitant utilization of radiofrequency ablation during atrial fibrillation cryoballoon ablation procedures

EP Europace ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (Supplement_3) ◽  
Author(s):  
RS Gaitonde ◽  
JA Martel ◽  
CP Porterfield ◽  
NS Koide ◽  
A Kobori ◽  
...  

Abstract Funding Acknowledgements Type of funding sources: None. Background Use of cryoballoon ablation (CBA) for the treatment of atrial fibrillation (AF) has become increasingly common in recent years. While various techniques have been described for use of the cryoballoon to achieve PVI and create selective additional lesion sets, the need for concomitant radiofrequency (RF) ablation in delivering touch-up ablation or non-PVI lesion sets has not been quantified. Purpose To quantify the rate of RF ablation catheter use in AF CBA procedures, and to evaluate whether indication for ablation can be used as a predictor of the need for supplementary RF ablation. Methods Self-reported data was prospectively collected in AF CBA procedures. Procedural characteristics including concomitant utilization of RF ablation catheters and lesion set delivery were recorded and analyzed. Post-hoc statistical analysis was completed utilizing a two-sample t-test of significance. Results Data was collected in a total of 246 AF CBA cases across 44 centers in the USA, Europe, and Japan. Included in the analysis were 170 paroxysmal atrial fibrillation cases (PAF group); 70 PersAF and 6 LsPersAF cases (PersAF group). Utilization rates for RF ablation catheters did not differ between the two groups; 35.9% and 36.8% of cases in PAF and PersAF, respectively (p = 0.885). The number of patients in which non-PV lesion sets were delivered also did not differ between groups; 38.2% and 40.8% in PAF and PersAF, respectively (p = 0.706). The choice of non-PV lesion sets varied as shown in Table 1. Upon completion of ablation, more patients were in sinus rhythm in the PAF group compared to the PersAF group, but the difference did not reach statistical significance; 88.2% and 78.9%, respectively (p = 0.057). Conclusions RF ablation catheter utilization rates were similar between groups, suggesting that indication (PAF vs. PersAF) alone is not a good predictor of whether concomitant RF ablation catheter utilization will be required during an AF CBA procedure. Table 1 Incidence Lesion Set PAF (n = 170) PersAF (n = 76) CTI Line 26.5% (45/170) 15.8% (12/76) Isolation/Homogenization of Fibrotic Areas 2.9% (5/170) 3.9% (3/76) CFE 2.9% (5/170) 0.0% (0/76) Posterior Wall Isolation 1.8% (3/170) 21.1% (16/76) Roof Line 1.8% (3/170) 7.9% (6/76) Other 9.4% (16/170) 27.6% (21/76) Utilization rate of non-PVI lesion sets

Circulation ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 142 (Suppl_3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Liu ◽  
Arismendy Nunez-Garcia ◽  
Cao Tran ◽  
Michael Wu

Introduction: Catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation (AF) guided by spatiotemporal dispersion (SD) of electrograms has been proposed as an ablation strategy to treat patients with persistent AF. However, external validation of this technique is lacking. Here we report a single center experience using ablation by SD. Hypothesis: Targeting regions with SD is associated with a high rate of termination and favorable freedom from AF among patients with persistent AF. Methods: Patients with persistent AF who underwent SD from November 2018 to January 2020 were included in this study. All patients underwent pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) in addition to targeting areas of SD. Lesions on areas of electrogram dispersion were anchored to the PVI or to mitral or posterior wall lines where appropriate. EKG, Holter, event monitors or device interrogations were obtained at 3 and 6 months to assess for arrhythmia recurrence. Results: 44 patients met the inclusion criteria and were included in the study. The patients had a mean age of 69±8 years and were 68 % male. The prevalence of comorbidities was as follows: hypertension (89%), diabetes (21%), OSA (37%) and CAD (26%). Average CHADSVASC score was 2.9±1.4, LVEF was 53±11% and left atrium (LA) diameter was 5.2±1 cm. The recurrence rate of AF at 6 months was 14% whereas the recurrence of atrial tachycardia was 20%. Acute AF termination was observed in 73% of the patients. Termination to sinus occurred in 38% of the patients and the remaining terminated to atrial tachycardia which was subsequently ablated to sinus. The mean procedure duration was 240±90 minutes. Univariate analysis showed recurrence was associated with LA diameter (r=.52; p<.001). No recurrences were observed among patients with a LA diameter < 5 cm. Termination rates were higher among patients with LA diameter < 5 cm when compared to LA diameter ≥ 5 cm. However, it did not reach statistical significance (80% vs. 60%; p=.21). Conclusions: The target of electrograms with SD during AF ablation added to PVI was associated with a high termination rate and a good freedom from AF recurrence at 6 months. The ideal candidate for this procedure may be those with LA diameter < 5 cm among persistent AF. The long-term efficacy of this technique merits further studies in larger populations.


2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (4S) ◽  
pp. 6-14
Author(s):  
T. Y. Chichkova ◽  
S. E. Mamchur ◽  
E. A. Khomenko

Aim. To estimate the clinical success of cryoballoon pulmonary vein isolation (PVI).Methods.230 patients (males: 49.6%, mean age 57 (53; 62) with symptomatic paroxysmal and persistent atrial fibrillation (AF) resistant to antiarrhythmic therapy were included in a single-center prospective study. The patients were randomized into 2 groups to undergo either cryoballoon ablation (n = 122) or radiofrequency (RF) (n = 108) ablation. Both groups were comparable in baseline parameters. The follow-up period was 12 months. Clinical outcomes were estimated with the use of a three-stage scale. The rates of cardiovascular rehospitalizations, direct-current cardioversions and repeated ablations during were estimated within the follow-up. The quality of life (QoL) in the cryoablation group was measured using the AFEQT scale.Results.77% (n = 94) of patients in the cryoballoon ablation group and 71.3% (n = 77) of patients in the RF group (р = 0.71) demonstrated reported the optimal clinical effects. Both groups, cryo ablation and RF ablation, had similar rates of cardiovascular hospitalizations (23.8 vs 28.7%, OR 0.8, 95% CI 0.4–1.4; р = 0.39), direct-current cardioversions (12.3 vs 17.6%, OR 0.7, 95% CI 0.3–1.4; р = 0.26) and repeated ablations (9.8–11.1%, OR 0.9, 95% CI 0.4–2.0; р = 0.75). The patients treated with cryoballoon as opposed to RF ablation had significantly more successful usage of “pill-in-pocket” strategy – 14.8 vs 6.5% (OR 2.5, 95% CI 1.01–6.2; р = 0.04). Significant improvements of the QoL parameters with strong size effect have been found in the cryoablation group, i.e. global score (GS) increased by 8.9±6.9 (95% CI 6.6–10.1; dCohen 1.2; р<0.001), symptoms (S) – by 8.3±7.9 (95% CI 4.2–8.8; dCohen 1.5; р<0.001), daily activities (DA) – by 10.0±6.9 (95% CI = 6.4–10.6; dCohen 0.9; р<0.001), treatment concerns (TC) – by 5.5±6.0 (95% CI 6.3–9.2; dCohen 1.2; р<0.001) and treatment satisfaction (TS) – by 5.5±6.0 (95% CI 5.4–9.8; dCohen 0.9; р<0.001).Conclusion.The both catheter-based technologies had comparable clinical success. Cryoablation was characterized by improvement in all QoL parameters based on the AFEQT score.


Circulation ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 118 (suppl_18) ◽  
Author(s):  
Troy J Badger ◽  
Robert S Oakes ◽  
Akram Shabaan ◽  
Nazem W Akoum ◽  
Nathan M Segerson ◽  
...  

Background. A mechanism of atrial fibrillation (AF) recurrence following ablation may be incomplete pulmonary vein antrum (PVA) scarring that allows for conduction between the pulmonary veins (PV) and the left atrium (LA). We report the relationship between circumferential PV scarring detected by delayed enhancement MRI (DE-MRI) and AF recurrence following PVAI. Methods. Eighty-six patients presenting for PVAI underwent DE-MRI 3 months post ablation. Circumferential ablation with posterior wall debulking was performed in all patients. PV ostia were marked on 3D images generated from the MRI data and assessed by consensus of two independent reviewers for the extent of scarring. Complete PVA scarring was defined as a continuous ring of enhancement surrounding the PVA. For patients with incomplete scarring, the degree of scarring was estimated. Results. The figure shows two patients from the cohort, Patient 1 exhibits successful scarring of all PVA. Patient 2 shows scarring of 1 PVA. At three months post ablation, complete circumferential lesion was seen on 131/335 PVA (39.1%). Complete scarring of 4 PVA was seen in 9 patients (10.5%), scarring of 3 PVA in 11 patients (12.8%) and scarring of 2 PVA was seen in 17 patients (19.8). Twenty-nine patients (33.7%) exhibited complete scarring in 1 PVA while 20 patients (23.3%) exhibited scarring in 0 PVA. Kaplan Meier analysis (Figure [E] ), suggests that PVA isolation may be important for long-term procedural success. Conclusion: Complete pulmonary vein antrum scarring exists in a very limited number of patients, despite its apparent importance for long-term procedural success.


2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (Supplement_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
R Tilz ◽  
C L Lenz ◽  
P S Sommer ◽  
N Sawan ◽  
R Meyer-Saraei ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Based on the assumption of trigger elimination, pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) currently presents the gold standard of atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation. Recently, rapidly spinning rotors or focal impulse formation has been raised as a crucial sustaining mechanism of AF. Ablation of these rotors may potentially obviate the need for trigger elimination with PVI. Purpose This study sought to compare the safety and effectiveness of Focal Impulse and Rotor Modulation (FIRM) guided catheter ablation only with the gold standard of pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) in patients with paroxysmal AF. Methods This was a post-market, prospective, single-blinded, randomized, multi-center trial. Patients were enrolled at three centers and equally (1:1) randomized between those undergoing conventional RF ablation with PVI (PVI group) vs. those treated with FIRM-guided RF ablation without PVI (FIRM group). Data was collected at enrollment, procedure, and at 7-day, 3-month, 6-month, and 12-month follow-up visits. The study was closed early by the sponsor. At the time of study closure, any pending follow-up visits were waived. Results From February 2016 until February 2018, a total of 51 (out of a planned 170) patients (mean age 63±10.6 years, 57% male) were enrolled and randomized. Four patients withdrew from the study prior to treatment, resulting in 23 patients allocated to the FIRM group and 24 in the PVI group. Only 13 patients in the FIRM group and 11 patients in the PVI group completed the 12-month follow-up. Statistical analysis was not completed given the small number of patients. Single-procedure effectiveness (freedom from AF/atrial tachycardia recurrence after blanking period) was 52.9% (9/17) in the FIRM group and 85.7% (12/14) in the PVI group at 6 months; and 31.3% (5/16) in the FIRM group and 80% (8/10) in the PVI group at 12 months. Repeat procedures were performed in 45.8% (11/24) patients in the FIRM group and 7.4% (2/27) in the PVI group. The acute safety endpoint [freedom from procedure-related serious adverse events (SAE)] was achieved in 87% (20/23) of FIRM group patients and 100% (24/24) of PVI group patients. Procedure related SAEs occurred in three patients in the FIRM group: 1 femoral artery aneurysm and 2 injection site hematomas. No additional procedure-related SAEs were reported >7 days post-procedure. Conclusions These partial study effectiveness results reinforce the importance of PVI in paroxysmal atrial fibrillation patients and suggest that FIRM-guided ablation alone (without PVI) is not an effective strategy for treatment of paroxysmal AF in most patients. Further study is needed to understand the effectiveness of adding FIRM-guided ablation as an adjunct to PVI in this patient group. Acknowledgement/Funding Abbot


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. e232508
Author(s):  
Vishesh Paul ◽  
Rajamurugan Meenakshisundaram ◽  
Abdur R Jamal ◽  
Talha Bin Farooq

We report a case of a 68-year-old woman who presented with atypical chest pain and fluctuating neurological symptoms 4 weeks after cryoballoon ablation procedure for atrial fibrillation. Brain imaging showed multiple embolic infarcts, while the chest imaging revealed an abnormal connection between the posterior wall of the left atrium and the oesophagus. Based on her clinical presentation and the imaging findings, a diagnosis of left atrio-oesophageal fistula (AOF) was established. AOF carries a high mortality rate unless an urgent surgical repair is performed. Oesophageal instrumentation for an echocardiogram or endoscopy should be avoided as it can result in massive air embolus, causing stroke or death.


Author(s):  
oluwaseun adeola ◽  
asad Al Aboud ◽  
Travis Richardson ◽  
Gregory Michaud

Pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) is the cornerstone of catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation (AF) However AF recurrence after a single ablation procedure is common and often attributed to ineffective lesion delivery during PVI. In this issue of the Journal of Cardiovascular Electrophysiology, Chen et al reported their experience with 122 patients who underwent an ablation index-high power (AI-HP) strategy RF ablation for AF using 50W power, targeting AI values of 550 on the anterior left atrium (LA), 400 on the posterior wall and inter-lesion distance (ILD) 6mm. They achieved 1st pass PVI in 96.7% of cases, mean RF time was 11.5min and total procedure time was only 55.8min. All patients had 72h-Holter monitor and trans-telephonic follow up. They reported 89.4% arrhythmia free survival among patients with paroxysmal AF and 80.4% among patients with persistent AF at 15-month follow up. Sixty (49%) patients had luminal esophageal temperature (LET) >390C out of which 3 (2.5%) had asymptomatic endoscopic esophageal erosions/erythema. Four (3%) patients had clinically apparent steam pops during ablation with no adverse clinical sequela. While AI-HP guided RF ablation may be an attractive strategy for PVI that likely reduces procedure times and probably has comparable efficacy to conventional ablation settings, its safety requires further evaluation. Feedback from the ablated tissue may need to be incorporated into optimized ablation energy parameters to further improve outcomes.


2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (Supplement_2) ◽  
Author(s):  
R Tonegawa ◽  
K Miyamoto ◽  
N Ueda ◽  
K Nakajima ◽  
T Kamakura ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation (AF) is associated with risks of silent cerebral events. However, the timing of intraprocedural micro-embolic events or differences between open-irrigated radiofrequency (RF) and cryoballoon (Cryo) ablation are unclear. Newly developed real-time carotid artery Doppler is a simple non-invasive method to detect micro-embolic signals (MESs) during ablation. Objective We investigated the timing of detecting MESs during RF and Cryo ablation of AF. Methods During the first pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) session of AF, MESs were monitored by real-time carotid artery Doppler monitoring throughout the procedure. The MES counts were collected and evaluated separately during the different steps of the procedure (Figure). Results Thirty-three AF patients (RF/Cryo: 22/11 cases, 9 females, 69.5±11.6 y.o) were included. PVI was successfully accomplished in all patients with no major complications. The MES count was significantly greater in the RF group than Cryo group (table). In both groups, left atrial (LA) access (interatrial puncture) and sheaths insertion to the LA generated a significant number of MESs (RF: 1690 of 9116 MESs [18.5% of the total MESs], Cryo: 793 of 2285 MESs [34.7%]). In the RF group, MESs were observed incessantly during PVI (Figure). The LA dwell time was significantly longer in the RF group than Cryo group (table). In the RF group, the MES count was significantly greater in the longer LA dwell time group (LA dwell time &gt;130min) than the shorter group (464.2±179.7 vs 302.6±138.2: P=0.049). During the cryo-applications in the Cryo group, the MESs were greatest during the first cryoballoon application (625 of 2285 MESs [27.4%]). Conclusions There were more MESs during RF ablation than cryoablation. MESs were recorded during a variety of steps throughout the procedure. In the RF group, most of MESs were recorded incessantly during radiofrequency ablation and greater number of MESs were recorded in patients with longer LA dwell time. In the Cryo group, most of MESs occurred during phases with a high probability of gaseous emboli. Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding source: None


Author(s):  
Takatoshi Shigeta ◽  
Yasuteru Yamauchi ◽  
Yuichiro Sagawa ◽  
Atsuhito Oda ◽  
Shinichi Tachibana ◽  
...  

Introduction: Detailed clinical outcomes of cryoballoon ablation of the left atrial (LA) posterior wall (LAPW) in patients with non-paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (AF) have not been fully examined. Methods: We analyzed the outcomes of 191 patients with non-paroxysmal AF, of whom 135 underwent cryoballoon ablation of the LAPW including the LA roof in addition to pulmonary vein isolation with a cryoballoon. Results: Complete conduction block at the LA roof was obtained in 97.0% (131/135) of patients and LAPW was isolated in 85.2% (115/135) of patients. Over 372 days (range, 182–450 days) of follow-up, atrial arrhythmia recurrence was observed in 55 (40.7%) patients, and atrial tachycardia (AT) recurrence accounted for 25.5% of cases. The prevalence of LA roof cryoballoon ablation tended to be higher in patients without recurrence than those with (74.3% vs. 61.8%, respectively; p=0.11), especially those with persistent AF recurrence (74.5% vs. 46.2%, p=0.01). Multivariate analysis revealed that cryoballoon ablation of the LA roof was a predictor of freedom from persistent AF recurrence and that it was not associated with AT recurrence. Durable LA roof lesions were confirmed in 18 (72.0%) of 25 patients who underwent redo ablation. Conclusion: Cryoballoon ablation of the LAPW leads to a sufficient acute success rate of complete conduction block and durable lesions of the LA roof without increasing the risk of AT recurrence. The prevalence of persistent AF recurrence decreases after additional cryoballoon ablation of the LAPW in patients with non-paroxysmal AF.


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