Wall Thickness-Based Adjustment of Ablation Index Improves Efficacy of
Pulmonary Vein Isolation in Atrial Fibrillation: Real-Time Assessment by
Intracardiac Echocardiography
Abstract
Background: Ablation index (AI) linearly correlates with lesion depth
and may yield better therapeutic performance in pulmonary vein isolation
(PVI) when tailored to a patient’s wall thickness (WT) in the left
atrium (LA). Methods and results: (First study) In paroxysmal atrial
fibrillation patients (PAF, n=20), the average LA WT (mm) in each
anatomical segment for PVI was measured by intra-cardiac
echocardiography (ICE) placed in the LA; the optimal AI for creating
one-millimeter transmural lesion (AI/mm) was calculated. (Second study)
PAF (n=80) patients were randomly assigned either to a force-time
integral protocol (FTI, 400 gram·second, n=40) or a tailored-AI protocol
(TAI, n=40). In TAI, the LA WT in each segment was individually measured
by ICE before starting ablation; a target AI was adjusted according to
the individual WT in each segment (AI/mm×WT). The acute procedure
outcomes and the 1-year AF recurrence rate were compared between FTI and
TAI. TAI had higher success rate of first-pass isolation and had lower
incidence of residual PV-potentials/conduction gaps after a circular
ablation than FTI (88% vs. 65%, 15 vs. 45%, respectively). The
procedure time to complete PVI decreased in TAI compared to FTI (52 vs.
83 minutes), being attributed to the increased radiofrequency power and
the decreased radiofrequency application time in each point in TAI. TAI
had lower 1-year AF recurrence rate than FTI. Conclusion: WT-based
AI-adjustment increased acute procedure success, decreased time for PVI,
and reduced 1-year AF recurrence rate. Understanding the precise
ablation target would improve the efficacy of PVI.