In total, 263 patients exhibited no contrast defect (CD) by
prone-position contrast computed tomography (pCT), and catheter ablation
for atrial fibrillation was subsequently performed. At that time, no
intracardiac thrombus was found on intracardiac echocardiography (ICE).
A CD observed only during pCT in the early phase was found in 34
patients, but not during pCT in the late one; these patients showed no
thrombi due to ICE during ablation. The remaining six patients had CD in
both the early and late phases of pCT. They did not undergo catheter
ablation, and pCT was conducted after several months of altered or
increased oral anticoagulation (OAC) therapy. Thereafter, all six
patients showed no CD on pCT in the late phase, and no thrombus was
observed using ICE.
Table 3. Clinical characteristics of patients with and without
residual contrast medium in the left atrial appendage