Epicardial ablation performance of a novel radiofrequency device on the beating heart in pigs.

Abstract

Only bipolar clamps create reliable transmural lesions on the beating heart. This study evaluated the performance of a new radiofrequency (RF) device on the beating heart in an acute porcine model. Six domestic pigs were ablated with a novel bipolar RF linear device on the beating heart (ablation time of 40 s, 3 each on right and left atria and 1 each on superior and inferior vena cavae). The heart was stained with 2, 3, 5-triphenyl-tetrazolium chloride, and each lesion was cross-sectioned for lesion depth and transmurality. Transmurality was documented in 89% of the cross-sections. Sixty-three percent of lesions were transmural along the entire lesion length. Overall, 85% of the nontransmural cross-sections were located on the right atrium, and half of the nontransmural sections were in the superior or inferior vena cavae lesions. This novel device was able to create transmural lesions on the beating heart, more effectively in the left atrium than in the right atrium.