Journal article

Anatomic characterization of cavotricuspid isthmus by 3D transesophageal echocardiography in patients undergoing radiofrequency ablation of typical atrial flutter.

  • Regoli F Division of Cardiology, Fondazione Cardiocentro Ticino, Via Tesserete 48, CH-6900 Lugano, Switzerland.
  • Faletra F Division of Cardiology, Fondazione Cardiocentro Ticino, Via Tesserete 48, CH-6900 Lugano, Switzerland.
  • Marcon S Division of Cardiology, Fondazione Cardiocentro Ticino, Via Tesserete 48, CH-6900 Lugano, Switzerland.
  • Leo LA Division of Cardiology, Fondazione Cardiocentro Ticino, Via Tesserete 48, CH-6900 Lugano, Switzerland.
  • Dequarti MC Division of Cardiology, Fondazione Cardiocentro Ticino, Via Tesserete 48, CH-6900 Lugano, Switzerland.
  • Caputo ML Division of Cardiology, Fondazione Cardiocentro Ticino, Via Tesserete 48, CH-6900 Lugano, Switzerland.
  • Conte G Division of Cardiology, Fondazione Cardiocentro Ticino, Via Tesserete 48, CH-6900 Lugano, Switzerland.
  • Moccetti T Division of Cardiology, Fondazione Cardiocentro Ticino, Via Tesserete 48, CH-6900 Lugano, Switzerland.
  • Auricchio A Division of Cardiology, Fondazione Cardiocentro Ticino, Via Tesserete 48, CH-6900 Lugano, Switzerland.
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  • 2017-02-10
Published in:
  • European heart journal cardiovascular Imaging. - 2018
English Aims
Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is the treatment of choice of cavotricuspid isthmus (CTI)-dependent atrial flutter. Procedural time is highly variable due to anatomical structures. This study aimed to characterize CTI anatomy by transesophageal 3D echocardiography imaging (3D-TEE) to identify anatomic structures related to longer ablation time.


Methods and results
Thirty-one consecutive patients (mean age 67.3 ± 11.5 years, 22 males) underwent CTI-ablation procedure. Before ablation, TEE was performed and 3D-TEE images were acquired to evaluate CTI anatomy qualitatively as well as perform measures of CTI morphological features. The electrophysiologist performing RFA was blinded to 3D-TEE data. Bidirectional block of CTI was achieved in all patients without procedural complications after a median ablation time of 11 (IQR 7-14) min. Patients with RFA time ≥11 min (Group 2) presented lower left ventricular ejection fraction (51.1 ± 17.0 vs. 59.5 ± 6.6%, P < 0.010), a larger left atrium (46.2 ± 8.4 vs. 39.9 ± 9.4 mm, P < 0.058), and, more frequently, a right atrial pouch (12/16 patients vs. 4/15, P = 0.012) compared with patients with RFA time < 11 min (Group 1); CTI pouch was significantly deeper in Group 2 compared with Group 1: telediastolic (TD) pouch depth was 10.4 ± 4.5 vs. 6.3 ± 1.5 mm (P = 0.003) and telesystolic (TS) depth 12.8 ± 4.4 vs. 7.0 ± 1.4 mm (P < 0.001), respectively. TD isthmus length, prominent pectinate muscle, and presence of an Eustachian ridge (ER) did not differ between the two groups.


Conclusion
Routine pre-procedural 3D-TEE imaging is extremely helpful in qualitative and quantitative evaluation of CTI anatomy in patients undergoing RFA for symptomatic typical atrial flutter. Detection of a deep right atrial pouch was found to be associated with significantly prolonged CTI ablation time to achieve bidirectional block.
Language
  • English
Open access status
hybrid
Identifiers
Persistent URL
https://sonar.ch/global/documents/58735
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