Fiber Bragg Grating Sensors for Millimetric-Scale Temperature Monitoring of Cardiac Tissue Undergoing Radiofrequency Ablation: A Feasibility Assessment.

Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is the most widely used technique for the treatment of cardiac arrhythmias. A variety of factors, such as the electrode tip shape, the force exerted on the tissue by the catheter and the delivered power, combine to determine the temperature distribution, and as consequence, the lesion shape and size. In this context, being able to know the temperature reached in the myocardium during the RFA can be helpful for predicting the lesion dimensions to prevent the occurrence of undesired tissue damage.

Interatrial conduction times in paroxysmal atrial fibrillation patients with normal atrial volume and their correlation with areas of local prolonged bipolar electrograms.

Background: Recent evidence has shown that the presence of abnormal substrate can be demonstrated also among patients with "lone" AF.

Objectives: Interatrial conduction slowing is likely to characterize patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (AF) and it could be correlated to the left atrium area of prolonged local bipolar endocardial electrograms.

Methods: P-wave duration (PWD), amplified PWD and endocavitary interatrial conduction time (IACT), were analyzed in 60 patients; 30 undergoing de novo ablation for paroxysmal AF with normal atrial volumes and without any other cardiac disease and 30 of similar age undergoing electrophysiological study for atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia or atrioventricular re- entrant tachycardia.

Increasing pace mapping properties in parahissian premature ventricular contraction. Novel insight from HD grid multipolar catheter.

A 23-year-old athlete with symptomatic low burden premature ventricular contraction (PVC) with left bundle branch block morphology and inferior axis morphology was sent to our department for RV mapping and PVC ablation. Exit zone of the PVC was easily and clearly defined by the bipoles A3-A4 achieving optimal and detailed pacemapping (Panels A-C) near the His bundle (yellow dots). The spatial conformation and the smooth shape of the catheter would definitely help everyday procedures in the setting of low burden PVC/noninducible focal ventricular arrhythmia, especially when the focus is located very close to the conductive tissue.

Voltage gradient mapping and electrophysiologically guided cryoablation in children with AVNRT.

Aims: Recently, voltage gradient mapping of Koch's triangle to find low-voltage connections, or 'voltage bridges', corresponding to the anatomic position of the slow pathway, has been introduced as a method to ablate atrioventricular nodal reentry tachycardia (AVNRT) in children. Thus, we aimed to assess the effectiveness of voltage mapping of Koch's triangle, combined with the search for the slow potential signal in 'low-voltage bridges', to guide cryoablation of AVNRT in children.

Methods And Results: From June 2015 to May 2016, 35 consecutive paediatric patients (mean age 12.