title: Pulmonary vein isolation with a novel endoscopic ablation system using laser energy.
abstract: Pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) is the basis of all ablation techniques for paroxysmal atrial fibrillation. Performing conventional radiofrequency ablation for PVI is time consuming and sometimes challenging when using point-by-point applications to create continuous lesions. Small electrically conducting gaps evolving in the ablation lines may cause recurrences of atrial fibrillation or regular atrial re-entry tachycardias. Development of novel anatomically designed ablation catheters for PVI aim to facilitate the ablation procedure, to produce continuous and durable lesions with a limited number of ablation impulses and to reduce the complication rate. The endoscopic laser balloon ablation system (HeartLight® EAS, Cardiofocus Inc.) is the first system that allows direct visual guidance of energy delivery at the antral level of each pulmonary vein and uses a completely new energy source for ablation.
authors.affiliation: Heart Center Bad Neustadt, Clinic for Interventional Electrophysiology, Salzburger Leite 1, 97616 Bad Neustadt, Germany. anja.schade@kardiologie-bad-neustadt.de
authors.forename: Anja
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schade
authors.forename: Joachim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Krug
authors.forename: Attila-Geza
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Szöllösi
authors.forename: Mohammed
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: El Tarahony
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Deneke
mesh_terms: D017222:Angioplasty, Balloon, Laser-Assisted / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends; D017546:Angioscopy / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends; D000818:Animals; D001281:Atrial Fibrillation / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D011667:Pulmonary Veins / Q000601:surgery*