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Pulmonary vein signal interpretation during cryoballoon ablation for atrial fibrillation
The recognition that paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (AF) is predominantly triggered by ectopic beats arising from the vicinity of pulmonary veins (PVs) has spurred the establishment of percutaneous procedures specifically designed to electrically sequestrate the arrhythmogenic PV from the vulnerable left atrium (LA) substrate.1 Recently, the procedure has evolved with the development of purpose-built pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) tools, such as the cryoballoon catheter. This article discusses the anatomic and electrophysiologic bases for the interpretation of pulmonary vein potentials (PVPs) using a small-caliber circular mapping catheter (CMC) and provides an expanded discussion on the pacing maneuvers relevant to cryoballoon-based PVI procedures.Prevention of phrenic nerve injury during interventional electrophysiologic procedures
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The advent of innovative, potent ablative technologies and the adoption of endo–epicardial approaches to treat various arrhythmias have engendered a need for developing strategies to prevent collateral damage to critical structures such as the phrenic nerve (PN) and the esophagus during percutaneous electrophysiologic interventions. Here we detail phrenic nerve injury (PNI) prevention strategies during atrial fibrillation (AF), atrial tachycardia (AT), and ventricular tachycardia (VT) ablation. PNI is more common on the right side because of the anatomic course of the nerve and the greater preponderance of AF and AT ablations.
