TY - JOUR
T1 - Epicardial box lesion using bipolar biparietal radiofrequency and multimodality scar evaluation-a case series
AU - Bijvoet, Geertruida Petronella
AU - Chaldoupi, Sevasti-Maria
AU - Bidar, Elham
AU - Holtackers, Robert J
AU - Luermans, Justin G L M
AU - Maesen, Bart
N1 - © The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology.
PY - 2022/1/4
Y1 - 2022/1/4
N2 - Background: Surgical epicardial atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation can be performed as a stand-alone (thoracoscopic) procedure or concomitant to other cardiac surgery. In hybrid AF ablation thoracoscopic surgical epicardial ablation is combined with a percutaneous endocardial ablation. The Medtronic Gemini-S clamp is a surgical tool that uses irrigated bipolar biparietal radiofrequency (RF) energy applied with two clamp lesions that overlap to create one epicardial box lesion including the posterior left atrial wall and the pulmonary veins.Case summary: We describe three patients with therapy-refractory persistent AF and different stages of atrial remodelling in whom the Medtronic Cardioblate Gemini-S Irrigated RF Surgical Ablation System was used for hybrid AF ablation. Acute endocardial validation at the end of the hybrid ablation revealed a complete box lesion in all three cases. At 2-year follow-up, two out of three patients had recurrence of atrial arrhythmias. Invasive electro-anatomical mapping confirmed the persistence of the box lesion, and the mechanism of arrhythmia recurrence in both patients was unrelated to posterior left atrium or the pulmonary veins. The third patient has been without arrhythmia symptoms since the ablation procedure. A three-dimensional late gadolinium enhancement magnetic resonance imaging illustrates the ablation scar non-invasively in two cases.Discussion: Thoracoscopic biparietal RF AF ablation with the Medtronic Cardioblate Gemini-S Irrigated RF Surgical Ablation System results in permanent transmural scar formation, irrespective of the stage of atrial remodelling, as shown in this small population by means of multimodality scar evaluation.
AB - Background: Surgical epicardial atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation can be performed as a stand-alone (thoracoscopic) procedure or concomitant to other cardiac surgery. In hybrid AF ablation thoracoscopic surgical epicardial ablation is combined with a percutaneous endocardial ablation. The Medtronic Gemini-S clamp is a surgical tool that uses irrigated bipolar biparietal radiofrequency (RF) energy applied with two clamp lesions that overlap to create one epicardial box lesion including the posterior left atrial wall and the pulmonary veins.Case summary: We describe three patients with therapy-refractory persistent AF and different stages of atrial remodelling in whom the Medtronic Cardioblate Gemini-S Irrigated RF Surgical Ablation System was used for hybrid AF ablation. Acute endocardial validation at the end of the hybrid ablation revealed a complete box lesion in all three cases. At 2-year follow-up, two out of three patients had recurrence of atrial arrhythmias. Invasive electro-anatomical mapping confirmed the persistence of the box lesion, and the mechanism of arrhythmia recurrence in both patients was unrelated to posterior left atrium or the pulmonary veins. The third patient has been without arrhythmia symptoms since the ablation procedure. A three-dimensional late gadolinium enhancement magnetic resonance imaging illustrates the ablation scar non-invasively in two cases.Discussion: Thoracoscopic biparietal RF AF ablation with the Medtronic Cardioblate Gemini-S Irrigated RF Surgical Ablation System results in permanent transmural scar formation, irrespective of the stage of atrial remodelling, as shown in this small population by means of multimodality scar evaluation.
KW - ABLATION
KW - Ablation scar evaluation
KW - Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging
KW - Case series
KW - Hybrid atrial fibrillation ablation
U2 - 10.1093/ehjcr/ytab530
DO - 10.1093/ehjcr/ytab530
M3 - Article
C2 - 35106444
SN - 2514-2119
VL - 6
JO - European Heart Journal - Case Reports
JF - European Heart Journal - Case Reports
IS - 1
M1 - ytab530
ER -