OBJECTIVES We evaluated in humans the safety and efficacy of a novel magnetic guidance system (MGS) for electrophysiological mapping, pacing, and ablation. BACKGROUND Catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation and other complex arrhythmias requires precise catheter manipulation and stabilization. We have shown in animals that the MGS can precisely manipulate a mapping catheter within the heart ...

Atrial fibrillation and obesity are interlinked epidemics and both impair quality of life. As the prevalence of both conditions in the US continues to rise, so will the number of obese patients with atrial fibrillation referred for catheter ablation. Catheter ablation has already been shown to significantly improve quality of life in patients with atrial fibrillation. Until recently, there has ...

BACKGROUND The MRI-compatible electrophysiology system previously used for MR-guided left ventricular electroanatomic mapping was enhanced with improved MR tracking, an MR-compatible radiofrequency ablation system and higher-resolution imaging sequences to enable mapping, ablation, and ablation monitoring in smaller cardiac structures. MR-tracked navigation was performed to the left atrium (LA)...

BACKGROUNDS Idiopathic ventricular arrhythmias (VAs) originating from the left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT) sometimes require catheter ablation from the endocardial and epicardial sides for their elimination, suggesting the presence of intramural VA foci. This study investigated the efficacy of sequential and simultaneous unipolar radiofrequency catheter ablation from the endocardial and ep...

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the commonest of all sustained arrhythmias, and most of the patients seeking medical therapy are in the elderly age group. The management of these patients is particularly difficult due to associated comorbidities. Hypertension, congestive heart failure, left ventricular hypertrophy, and coronary artery disease are often present in the elderly patient population, and...

BACKGROUND Epicardial radiofrequency catheter ablation of ventricular tachycardia remains challenging because of the presence of deep myocardial scar and adjacent cardiac structures, such as the coronary arteries, phrenic nerve, and epicardial fat that limit delivery of radiofrequency energy. High-intensity ultrasound (HIU) is an acoustic energy source able to deliver deep lesions through fat, ...

Since the advent of radiofrequency (RF) catheter ablation of cardiac arrhythmias, innovations in catheter design and technology have provided the operator with a growing selection of ablation catheters. In contrast to ablation of common supraventricular arrhythmias, where ablation of a well-defined single site results in excellent clinical outcomes, ablation of complex arrhythmias such as atria...

Over the past 12 years, catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation (AF) has emerged from being a novel, largely unproven procedure to its role today as a very commonly performed procedure for treatment of patients with symptomatic AF.1–4 In fact, catheter ablation of AF has become one of the most commonly performed catheter ablation procedures at most large medical centers throughout the world. T...

AIMS We investigated the feasibility of real-time magnetic resonance imaging (RTMRI) guided ablation of the cavotricuspid isthmus (CTI) by using a MRI-compatible ablation catheter. METHODS AND RESULTS Cavotricuspid isthmus ablation was performed in an interventional RTMRI suite by using a novel 7 French, steerable, non-ferromagnetic ablation catheter in a porcine in vivo model (n = 20). The c...

BACKGROUND Catheter ablation of pulmonary vein ectopic foci is a potentially curative treatment strategy for patients with atrial fibrillation. However, identification of arrhythmogenic pulmonary veins with conventional mapping is difficult, especially in patients with rare focal activity, multiple active foci, or extrapulmonary foci. The present study was designed to investigate use of simulta...