Histological gap between ablation lesions detected by phased array intracardiac echocardiography. (Images in Cardiology).(Brief Article)

Discontinuous linear ablation lesions can be a cause of proarrhythmias such as re-entrant tachycardias. Assessment of the wall contact and prevention of proarrhythmic gaps remain crucial. The technique of direct visualisation of the discontinuities between ablation lesions is not well established. Intracardiac echocardiography (ICE) is a technique that can be used to visualise various intracardiac structures that are not visualised on fluoroscopy and which allows precise localisation of intracardiac catheters relative to these anatomical structures. A deflectable 8.5 MHz phased array ICE catheter (Acu Nav, Acuson Inc) detected a real time histological gap on the posterior wall …