Direct visualization of induced steam pops during radiofrequency ablation

Introduction Importantly, during clinical ablation procedures, the elicitation of elevated tissue temperatures may induce audible steam pops. Rapidly induced high endocardial tissue temperatures are considered to generate these events as a result of blood/tissue vaporizations. In addition, discrepancies between monitored catheter tip temperature and actual endocardial tissue temperature may be related to the unanticipated elicitation of steam pops. Ultimately, these induced tissue disruptions can have important clinical consequences. They even may result in perforations of the atrial wall and/or the release of tissue or air emboli from the affected tissues.