Proactive esophageal cooling protects against thermal insults during high-power short-duration radiofrequency cardiac ablation

Background Proactive cooling with a novel cooling device has been shown to reduce endoscopically identified thermal injury during radiofrequency (RF) ablation for the treatment of atrial fibrillation using medium power settings. We aimed to evaluate the effects of proactive cooling during high-power...

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Main Authors: Marcela Mercado Montoya, Tatiana Gomez Bustamante, Enrique Berjano, Steven R. Mickelsen, James D. Daniels, Pablo Hernandez Arango, Jay Schieber, Erik Kulstad
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2022-12-01
Series:International Journal of Hyperthermia
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Online Access:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/02656736.2022.2121860
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author Marcela Mercado Montoya
Tatiana Gomez Bustamante
Enrique Berjano
Steven R. Mickelsen
James D. Daniels
Pablo Hernandez Arango
Jay Schieber
Erik Kulstad
author_facet Marcela Mercado Montoya
Tatiana Gomez Bustamante
Enrique Berjano
Steven R. Mickelsen
James D. Daniels
Pablo Hernandez Arango
Jay Schieber
Erik Kulstad
author_sort Marcela Mercado Montoya
collection DOAJ
description Background Proactive cooling with a novel cooling device has been shown to reduce endoscopically identified thermal injury during radiofrequency (RF) ablation for the treatment of atrial fibrillation using medium power settings. We aimed to evaluate the effects of proactive cooling during high-power short-duration (HPSD) ablation.Methods A computer model accounting for the left atrium (1.5 mm thickness) and esophagus including the active cooling device was created. We used the Arrhenius equation to estimate the esophageal thermal damage during 50 W/ 10 s and 90 W/ 4 s RF ablations.Results With proactive esophageal cooling in place, temperatures in the esophageal tissue were significantly reduced from control conditions without cooling, and the resulting percentage of damage to the esophageal wall was reduced around 50%, restricting damage to the epi-esophageal region and consequently sparing the remainder of the esophageal tissue, including the mucosal surface. Lesions in the atrial wall remained transmural despite cooling, and maximum width barely changed (<0.8 mm).Conclusions Proactive esophageal cooling significantly reduces temperatures and the resulting fraction of damage in the esophagus during HPSD ablation. These findings offer a mechanistic rationale explaining the high degree of safety encountered to date using proactive esophageal cooling, and further underscore the fact that temperature monitoring is inadequate to avoid thermal damage to the esophagus.
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spelling doaj-art-ff2e741a99f840a899a288075ef973e22025-08-20T03:51:24ZengTaylor & Francis GroupInternational Journal of Hyperthermia0265-67361464-51572022-12-013911202121210.1080/02656736.2022.2121860Proactive esophageal cooling protects against thermal insults during high-power short-duration radiofrequency cardiac ablationMarcela Mercado Montoya0Tatiana Gomez Bustamante1Enrique Berjano2Steven R. Mickelsen3James D. Daniels4Pablo Hernandez Arango5Jay Schieber6Erik Kulstad7In Silico Science &amp; Engineering S.A.S, Medellin, ColombiaIn Silico Science &amp; Engineering S.A.S, Medellin, ColombiaBioMIT, Department of Electronic Engineering, Universitat Politècnica de València, Valencia, SpainElectrophysiology Department, University of Iowa, Iowa City, USAElectrophysiology Department, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USAIn Silico Science &amp; Engineering S.A.S, Medellin, ColombiaDepartments of Chemical Engineering, Physics, and Applied Mathematics, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, IL, USAElectrophysiology Department, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USABackground Proactive cooling with a novel cooling device has been shown to reduce endoscopically identified thermal injury during radiofrequency (RF) ablation for the treatment of atrial fibrillation using medium power settings. We aimed to evaluate the effects of proactive cooling during high-power short-duration (HPSD) ablation.Methods A computer model accounting for the left atrium (1.5 mm thickness) and esophagus including the active cooling device was created. We used the Arrhenius equation to estimate the esophageal thermal damage during 50 W/ 10 s and 90 W/ 4 s RF ablations.Results With proactive esophageal cooling in place, temperatures in the esophageal tissue were significantly reduced from control conditions without cooling, and the resulting percentage of damage to the esophageal wall was reduced around 50%, restricting damage to the epi-esophageal region and consequently sparing the remainder of the esophageal tissue, including the mucosal surface. Lesions in the atrial wall remained transmural despite cooling, and maximum width barely changed (<0.8 mm).Conclusions Proactive esophageal cooling significantly reduces temperatures and the resulting fraction of damage in the esophagus during HPSD ablation. These findings offer a mechanistic rationale explaining the high degree of safety encountered to date using proactive esophageal cooling, and further underscore the fact that temperature monitoring is inadequate to avoid thermal damage to the esophagus.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/02656736.2022.2121860Atrial fibrillationradiofrequency ablationatrioesophageal fistulaesophageal coolingmathematical modeling
spellingShingle Marcela Mercado Montoya
Tatiana Gomez Bustamante
Enrique Berjano
Steven R. Mickelsen
James D. Daniels
Pablo Hernandez Arango
Jay Schieber
Erik Kulstad
Proactive esophageal cooling protects against thermal insults during high-power short-duration radiofrequency cardiac ablation
International Journal of Hyperthermia
Atrial fibrillation
radiofrequency ablation
atrioesophageal fistula
esophageal cooling
mathematical modeling
title Proactive esophageal cooling protects against thermal insults during high-power short-duration radiofrequency cardiac ablation
title_full Proactive esophageal cooling protects against thermal insults during high-power short-duration radiofrequency cardiac ablation
title_fullStr Proactive esophageal cooling protects against thermal insults during high-power short-duration radiofrequency cardiac ablation
title_full_unstemmed Proactive esophageal cooling protects against thermal insults during high-power short-duration radiofrequency cardiac ablation
title_short Proactive esophageal cooling protects against thermal insults during high-power short-duration radiofrequency cardiac ablation
title_sort proactive esophageal cooling protects against thermal insults during high power short duration radiofrequency cardiac ablation
topic Atrial fibrillation
radiofrequency ablation
atrioesophageal fistula
esophageal cooling
mathematical modeling
url https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/02656736.2022.2121860
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AT enriqueberjano proactiveesophagealcoolingprotectsagainstthermalinsultsduringhighpowershortdurationradiofrequencycardiacablation
AT stevenrmickelsen proactiveesophagealcoolingprotectsagainstthermalinsultsduringhighpowershortdurationradiofrequencycardiacablation
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