ECHOCARDIOGRAPHY - PART I 

Minerva Cardioangiologica 2005 April;53(2):109-16

Copyright © 2005 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Echocardiographic advances in atrial fibrillation and supraventricular arrhythmias

Rotter M., Jaïs P., Sanders P., Takahashi Y., Rostock T., Sacher F., Hocini M., Hsu L. F., Clementy J., Haïssaguerre M

Advances in echocardiography have paved the way for the development of intracardiac cathe-ters with ultrasound transducers mounted on its tip. With this technology it has become possible for the interventional electrophysiologist to perform continuous echocardiographic examination during a procedure without the need for general anaesthesia or additional staff. Intracardiac echocardiography (ICE) allows the monitoring of catheter movement in real-time, assessment of catheter-tissue contact and potentially prevents and recognizes complications like thrombus formation and pericardial effusion. In addition recent technologies allow acquiring the full spectrum of Doppler-imaging permitting evaluation of haemodynamic data during the procedure. All these advances have made ICE an ideal tool for the interventional electrophysiologist, serving as a diagnostic and imaging tool during invasive electrophysiological procedures. This review will summarize currently available technology of ICE and its indications and applications in electrophysiological procedures.