The impact of current strategy using intracardiac echocardiography, lesion index, and minimum substrate ablation on clinical outcomes after catheter ablation procedure for atrial fibrillation

PURPOSE: We developed the intracardiac echocardiography (ICE) technique to minimize radiation exposure and other recent technology during ablation procedure for atrial fibrillation (AF). The aim of this study was to validate the impact of the current strategy using the recent technology for AF ablation on outcomes after procedure. METHODS: We evaluated the safety and efficacy of the current strategy in consecutive set of patients undergoing first‐time ablation for AF (N = 233) compared with the conventional strategy in earlier consecutive set of patients (N = 223). The current strategy included the technique of ICE to reduce radiation exposure, Ablation Index(®)‐guided pulmonary veins isolation, and minimum substrate ablation targeting only for induced AF. Outcome measures were radiation exposure, procedure time, in‐hospital adverse outcomes, and event‐free survival from tachyarrhythmias. RESULTS: Puncture‐to‐ablation time was slightly, but significantly increased in the current strategy than in the conventional strategy (48.0 minutes vs 44.7 minutes, P = .002), although total procedure time was significantly decreased in the current strategy (143.9 minutes vs 156.9 minutes, P < .001). Likewise, radiation time and absorbed dose were significantly decreased in the current strategy (9.8 minutes vs 38.8 minutes, P < .001; 102.3 mGy vs 490.5 mGy, P < .001). The incidence of overall in‐hospital adverse outcomes was 3.9% in the current strategy and each complication rate was comparable with the conventional protocol. The event‐free survival from recurrent atrial tachyarrhythmias was not significantly different between two groups (72.3% vs 77.1% at 2‐year, P = .32). CONCLUSION: The current strategy using the recent technology with ICE, lesion index, and minimum substrate ablation was feasible and reduced total procedure time and radiation exposure. However, the arrhythmia‐free survival could not be improved.