著者

Christian-H. Heeger Huong-Lan Phan Roza Meyer-Saraei Thomas Fink Vanessa Sciacca Spyridon Liosis Ben Brüggemann Niels Große Bezhad Fahimi Makoto Sano Karl-Heinz Kuck Feifan Ouyang Julia Vogler Charlotte Eitel Roland Richard Tilz

出版者

The Japanese Circulation Society

雑誌

Circulation Journal (ISSN:13469843)

巻号頁・発行日

pp.CJ-19-0766, (Released:2019-11-09)

参考文献数

29

被引用文献数

22

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Background:Radiofrequency (RF)-based pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) results in a favorable clinical outcome, although its complexity demands a long learning curve. Balloon-based systems have been developed to possibly solve these limitations. The 2nd-generation laser balloon (LB2) offers optimized features for improved tissue contact and visibility. We determined the safety, efficacy and learning curve of the LB2 for PVI.Methods and Results:A total of 45 consecutive patients (89% persistent AF) were prospectively enrolled and divided into 3 groups (T1, T2, T3) of n=15 patients per group. All patients underwent PVI by 2 operators using the LB2. The operators were experienced in RF and cryothermal procedures, but not in laser ablations. A total of 174/177 PVs (98%) were successfully isolated. The median procedure time significantly declined from 132 (114, 158) to 119 (102, 127) and 91 (86, 105) min in T1–3, respectively (P=0.0009). Similarly, the median fluoroscopy time significantly decreased from T1 to T3 (22 (17, 27) vs. 21 (16, 24) vs. 13 (10, 17) min, respectively, P=0.045). Adverse events occurred in 6.7%, with a trend towards a lower complication rate with increasing experience.Conclusions:The LB2 was safe and effective for PVI, even for operators without any previous experience in laser balloon-based PVI. Procedure time, left atrial dwelling time and fluoroscopy time decreased after a learning curve of 15 cases.