14th International Congress
THE "NEW FRONTIERS"
OF ARRHYTHMIAS 2000

Jan. 29 - Feb. 5, 2000
Marilleva, Trento, Italy

RT-57

Outcome of circumferential radiofrequency ablation of pulmonary vein orifices for suppression of permanent atrial fibrillation

Carlo Pappone, Salvatore Rosanio, Filippo Gugliotta, Adriano Salvati, Cosimo Dicandia, Gabriele Vicedomini, Vincenzo Santinelli, SimoneGulletta, Patrizio Mazzone,Giuseppe Oreto, Sergio Chierchia.
Division of Cardiology, Hospital S.Raffaele, Milan, Italy

Methods

We selected 9 heparin-treated patients (7 men, age 29 to 79 years) with drug-refractory permanent AF (duration 5.7±2.2 months), and no left atrial (LA) thrombi by transesophageal echocardiography (TEE). Six patients had left ventricular disease: 1 ischemic; 3 hypertensive; and 2 dilated. Procedures were performed in sinus rhythm achieved by internal electrical cardioversion. RF lesions, deployed transseptally via a NaviStar catheter (CARTO, Biosense/Webster), consisted of a series of contiguous focal lesions (guided by CARTO) located around the anatomic orifice of each PV. RF power at each site was titrated by electrogram amplitude reduction ³75%. Pre- and post-ablation evaluation included routine 48-hour telemetry monitoring, TEE, monthly and symptomatic Holter monitoring, and daily symptom diaries.