title: Intracardiac echocardiographic guidance during microwave catheter ablation.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to explore the potential of intracardiac echocardiography in monitoring lesion formation and assisting with the assessment of ablative lesions using microwave energy. Microwave energy is a promising modality for catheter ablation. Because microwave lesions may have considerable variability in dimension, the ability to assess them may be particularly useful. One hundred twenty-five microwave lesions were created in vitro in ovine left ventricles. Correct assessment of catheter-endocardial contact was possible in virtually all cases. Intracardiac imaging always identified correctly whether or not an ablation was performed. During ablation, gas formation was observed in all instances. Sensitivity, specificity, and predictive values for identification of ablation lesions were 88% to 92%. Although the correlations with pathology for lesion dimensions were relatively poor, intracardiac imaging had a predictive accuracy of 80% to 85% to discriminate small from large lesions. Intracardiac guidance for microwave ablation is useful for verifying tissue-electrode contact, monitoring lesion formation, and localizing lesions. It is also a useful tool for the assessment of lesion size. These attributes, combined with the ability to facilitate transseptal catheterization and to identify complications such as hemopericardium, make intracardiac echocardiography a potentially useful method for guiding microwave ablation of arrhythmic foci.
authors.affiliation: Cardiovascular Imaging and Hemodynamic Laboratory and Cardiac Arrhythmia Service, Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, New England Medical Center, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, Mass, USA.
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Tardif
authors.forename: P W
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: Groeneveld
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: C J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Haugh
authors.forename: N A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Estes
authors.forename: S L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Schwartz
authors.forename: N G
authors.initials: NG
authors.lastname: Pandian
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001145:Arrhythmias, Cardiac / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery; D006328:Cardiac Catheterization; D017115:Catheter Ablation; D004452:Echocardiography; D004699:Endocardium / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery; D005740:Gases; D006346:Heart Septum / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D006352:Heart Ventricles / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery; D016014:Linear Models; D008872:Microwaves / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016343:Monitoring, Intraoperative; D010490:Pericardial Effusion / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012756:Sheep; D018084:Ultrasonography, Interventional
chemical_list: D005740:Gases