Contact Force and Ablation Index

Sohaib A Virk; Richard G Bennett; Ivana Trivic; Timothy Campbell; Saurabh Kumar

doi:10.1016/j.ccep.2019.05.007

Contact Force and Ablation Index

Card Electrophysiol Clin. 2019 Sep;11(3):473-479. doi: 10.1016/j.ccep.2019.05.007.

Authors

Sohaib A Virk¹, Richard G Bennett², Ivana Trivic¹, Timothy Campbell¹, Saurabh Kumar³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Cardiology, Westmead Hospital, Westmead Applied Research Centre, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
² Bristol Heart Institute, Bristol Royal Infirmary, Bristol, UK.
³ Department of Cardiology, Westmead Hospital, Westmead Applied Research Centre, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia. Electronic address: saurabh.kumar@health.nsw.gov.au.

PMID: 31400871
DOI: 10.1016/j.ccep.2019.05.007

Abstract

Radiofrequency ablation of arrhythmias depends on durable lesion formation. Catheter tip-tissue contact force (CF) is a key determinant of lesion quality; excessive CF is associated with major complications, whereas insufficient CF increases the risk of electrical reconnection and arrhythmia recurrence. In recent years, CF-sensing catheters have emerged with the ability to directly measure CF and provide operators with real-time feedback. CF-guided ablation has been associated with improved outcomes in observational studies. However, randomized controlled trials have not shown any reduction in procedural durations, fluoroscopy exposure, incidence of major complications, or long-term arrhythmia recurrence with use of CF-sensing catheters.

Keywords: Ablation index; Arrhythmias; Atrial fibrillation; Contact force; Radiofrequency ablation.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Arrhythmias, Cardiac* / physiopathology
Arrhythmias, Cardiac* / surgery
Catheter Ablation* / adverse effects
Catheter Ablation* / methods
Catheter Ablation* / statistics & numerical data
Humans
Postoperative Complications
Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic