Introduction: Transseptal puncture (TSP) is the conventional approach to assess the left atrial chamber. This technique has been widely used in interventional cardiology and, in the last years, this approach is mostly applied to electrophysiologic procedures. For atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation, two or more transseptal sheaths are often positioned in the left atrium in the majority of centers, therefore requiring two or more transseptal punctures. Theoretically, double puncture could bear additional risks or could increase the risk of persistence of septal defects. We reported the results of a retrospective analysis of a single transseptal puncture as a simplified approach for positioning multiple catheters in the left atrium during AF ablation.
Methods: Between November 2003 and November 2005, 1,150 consecutive patients (mean age 54 +/- 8 years, 75% men) were considered for AF ablation and underwent single transseptal puncture for positioning multiple catheters in the left atrium.
Results: In only 6 of 1,150 (0.5%) cases a second transseptal puncture was required to position the ablation catheter in the left atrium. Neither acute complications related to transseptal catheterization such as atrial or aortic perforations, pericardial tamponade, thrombotic formation, or air embolism, nor complications due to the attempts of crossing the septum with the ablation catheter were reported. In all cases, each mapping catheter was properly maneuvered at different sites in the left atrium and at the pulmonary veins. In no patient was a residual septal atrial defect after the transseptal maneuvers detected during a mean follow up of 14 +/- 2 months.
Conclusions: This retrospective study on a large cohort of patients shows that single transseptal puncture for positioning two or more catheters in the left atrium for AF ablation is a highly successful and safe maneuver with a very low morbidity in the majority of patients. This may avoid potential complications related to a second transseptal puncture.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-8167.2007.00958.x | DOI Listing |
JACC Clin Electrophysiol
January 2025
Section of Cardiac Pacing and Electrophysiology, Division of Cardiology, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio, USA.
Background: In patients with mechanical aortic and mitral valves requiring catheter ablation of ventricular tachycardia (VT), a technique for access from the right atrium (RA) to the left ventricle (LV) via puncture of the inferoseptal process of the LV was previously described in a single-center series.
Objectives: This study sought to report the multicenter experience of VT ablation using this novel LV access approach.
Methods: We assembled a multicenter registry of patients with double mechanical valves who underwent VT ablation with RA-to-LV access.
Acta Cardiol
January 2025
Department of Cardiology, CHU HELORA Jolimont Hospital, La Louvière, Belgium.
This case report discusses the management of a 75-year-old man who developed an unusual type of atypical atrial flutter following a previous pulmonary vein isolation for paroxysmal atrial fibrillation. Despite a second attempt to re-isolate the pulmonary veins and performing cavotricuspid isthmus ablation (which was suspected to be part of the arrythmia circuit), the flutter continued and was converted to sinus rhythm through electrical cardioversion. A few weeks later, the patient's atrial tachycardia relapsed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Clin Med
December 2024
Division of Cardiology, Pulmonology and Vascular Medicine, Medical Faculty, Heinrich-Heine University, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany.
: The safety and efficacy of electrophysiological (EP) procedures using ultrasound (US) guidance are being increasingly studied. We investigated if a systematic workflow with ultrasound guidance (the US4ABL), comprising four steps (transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) for left atrial thrombus exclusion, US of the groin vessels to guide femoral access, TEE-aided transseptal puncture, and transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) for exclusion of pericardial tamponade after the procedure), reduces the number of complications and fluoroscopy duration and dose. : A total of 212 consecutive patients underwent left-sided ablations using the US4ABL workflow and were compared to a group of 299 patients who underwent the same type of ablations using post-procedural TTE to exclude tamponade (standard group: venous and/or arterial access by palpation and fluoroscopy, and pressure guided transseptal puncture).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEur Heart J Case Rep
January 2025
Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Sendai Kousei Hospital, 1-20 Tsutsumidori-amamiya, Aoba Ward, Sendai, Miyagi 9810914, Japan.
Sci Rep
December 2024
Department of Cardiology, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, 37 Guoxue Alley, Wuhou District, Chengdu, 610041, Sichuan, China.
Intracardiac echocardiography (ICE) has been used to guide radio-frequency catheter ablation (RFCA) for better catheter navigation and less radiation exposure in treating atrial fibrillation (AF). This retrospective cohort study enrolled 227 AF patients undergoing ICE- or traditional fluoroscopy (TF)-guided RFCA for AF in a tertiary hospital. ICE was used more often in patients with atrial tachycardia [odds ratio (OR) 3.
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