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METHODS article

Front. Cardiovasc. Med.
Sec. Cardiac Rhythmology
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fcvm.2025.1524426

An approach to fluoroless radiofrequency atrial fibrillation ablation

Provisionally accepted
Thaïs Pittet Thaïs Pittet *Etienne Delacrétaz Etienne Delacrétaz Stéphane Cook Stéphane Cook Hari Vivekanantham Hari Vivekanantham
  • Fribourg Cantonal Hospital, Friborg, Switzerland

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Atrial fibrillation is the most prevalent arrhythmia with a lifetime risk of nearly 30% (1). It can be associated with reduced quality of life and complications such as heart failure and stroke. Pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) is the most effective treatment for rhythm control. It has initially been performed with fluoroscopic catheter guiding. The advent of three-dimensional (3D) electro-anatomical mapping has significantly reduced the need for fluoroscopy (2). More recently, intracardiac echography (ICE) techniques have been used to eliminate the need for X-rays. Additional advantages include providing electrophysiology lab personnel with a lead-free working environment and avoiding radiation exposure for both patients and physicians. ICE may also enhance the safety of the procedure by enabling a safe trans-septal puncture and the early recognition of cardiac tamponade. In this article, we present our approach to fluoroless radiofrequency PVI using ICE and 3D electro-anatomical mapping.

    Keywords: Atrial Fibrillation, Electro-anatomical mapping, fluoroless radiofrequency ablation, Intracardiac echocardiography, Pulmonary vein isolation

    Received: 07 Nov 2024; Accepted: 09 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Pittet, Delacrétaz, Cook and Vivekanantham. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Thaïs Pittet, Fribourg Cantonal Hospital, Friborg, Switzerland

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.