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First clinical experience of high-power ablation of atrial fibrillation with a novel contact force-sensing gold-tip catheter
Affiliations- Department of Internal Medicine and Cardiology, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Campus Virchow Klinikum, Berlin, Germany
- DZHK (German Center of Cardiovascular Research), partner site Berlin, Germany
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Abstract
Background: Contact force (CF)-sensing catheters are commonly used in the field of radiofrequency (RF) ablation to treat atrial fibrillation (AF). Increasing ablation power (e.g., 50 W) has been suggested as a method to reduce procedure times whilst creating safe and lasting lesions.
Methods: We report the first clinical evidence of a 50 W point-by-point RF ablation in 25 consecutive patients with symptomatic AF using a novel CF-sensing catheter with a gold tip (AlCath Force, Biotronik). We collected and analyzed procedural and ablation parameters. The safety and efficacy of the catheter were evaluated.
Results: Altogether, 985 RF lesions in 25 patients were created with a mean number of 39.4 ± 16.3 lesions per patient. The total skin-to-skin procedure time was 116.1 ± 35.1 min, and the mean total area dose product was 10.9 ± 5.1 Gy*cm2. The mean RF time per procedure was 13.2 ± 6.6 min. The mean RF time per lesion was 20.2 ± 8.4 s. The mean CF was 15.7 ± 7.6 g. We observed a mean force time integral of 274.7 ± 11.1 gs (range: 53 to 496 gs). Acute procedural success, defined as entrance and exit block in all pulmonary veins, could be obtained in all cases. No procedure- or device-related serious adverse events were observed. No audible steam pops occurred. Optical inspection of the catheter after the procedure showed neither charring nor clotting.
Conclusions: We provide the first evidence for the safety and efficacy of 50 W ablation using the AlCath Force gold-tip catheter. These data must be supported by a larger multi-center study.
Abstract
Background: Contact force (CF)-sensing catheters are commonly used in the field of radiofrequency (RF) ablation to treat atrial fibrillation (AF). Increasing ablation power (e.g., 50 W) has been suggested as a method to reduce procedure times whilst creating safe and lasting lesions.
Methods: We report the first clinical evidence of a 50 W point-by-point RF ablation in 25 consecutive patients with symptomatic AF using a novel CF-sensing catheter with a gold tip (AlCath Force, Biotronik). We collected and analyzed procedural and ablation parameters. The safety and efficacy of the catheter were evaluated.
Results: Altogether, 985 RF lesions in 25 patients were created with a mean number of 39.4 ± 16.3 lesions per patient. The total skin-to-skin procedure time was 116.1 ± 35.1 min, and the mean total area dose product was 10.9 ± 5.1 Gy*cm2. The mean RF time per procedure was 13.2 ± 6.6 min. The mean RF time per lesion was 20.2 ± 8.4 s. The mean CF was 15.7 ± 7.6 g. We observed a mean force time integral of 274.7 ± 11.1 gs (range: 53 to 496 gs). Acute procedural success, defined as entrance and exit block in all pulmonary veins, could be obtained in all cases. No procedure- or device-related serious adverse events were observed. No audible steam pops occurred. Optical inspection of the catheter after the procedure showed neither charring nor clotting.
Conclusions: We provide the first evidence for the safety and efficacy of 50 W ablation using the AlCath Force gold-tip catheter. These data must be supported by a larger multi-center study.
Keywords
ablation, high power, contact force sensing, atrial fibrillation, gold-tip catheter
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About this articleTitle
First clinical experience of high-power ablation of atrial fibrillation with a novel contact force-sensing gold-tip catheter
Journal
Issue
Article type
Original Article
Pages
759-765
Published online
2022-06-23
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4699
Article views/downloads
580
DOI
Pubmed
Bibliographic record
Cardiol J 2022;29(5):759-765.
Keywords
ablation
high power
contact force sensing
atrial fibrillation
gold-tip catheter
Authors
Abdul Shokor Parwani
Adrian Jayanata
Robin Kraft
Philipp Lacour
Florian Blaschke
Burkert Pieske
Leift-Hendrik Boldt
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