J Cardiovasc Electrophysiol
October 2014
Introduction: Irrigated radiofrequency (RF) catheters allow tissue-electrode interface cooling, decreasing thrombus risk while enabling higher RF power delivery. The impact of irrigation with ice-cold saline (ICS) instead of conventional ambient-temperature saline (ATS) on lesion formation is unknown.
Methods And Results: We performed 120 RF ablations in vitro on porcine left ventricles, using ICS (<5 °C) or ATS (21 °C) irrigation.