Site localization of painful lesions during radiofrequency ablation of pulmonary veins using circular multi-electrode catheters.
PURPOSE
Previous data showed that pain sensation was common during pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) using an 8-mm radiofrequency (RF) ablation catheter. Pain was more common in the left pulmonary veins (PVs). We characterized the location of pain during PVI using circular multi-electrode ablation catheters.


METHODS
Included are all consecutive patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) who underwent PVI using the phased RF PVAC® catheter (Medtronic) or the irrigated nMARQ™ catheter (Biosense Webster) under conscious sedation between July 2011 and March 2015. Site of pain reaction was marked for each patient.


RESULTS
A total of 251 patients (141 PVAC®, 110 nMARQ™) were studied; 214 (85 %) had at least one lesion associated with pain. Gender (r = 0.084, p = 0.186), type of AF (r = 0.048, p = 0.452), age (r = 0.078, p = 0.216), and repeat procedure (r = 0.018, p = 0.78) were not correlated with pain. There was no association between site of pain and catheter type; only 33% of the painful PVs were also the largest ones (p = 0.5, kappa = 0.03, R = -0.083). One-year freedom from AF was similar for patients with and without painful PVs (p = 0.6). The distribution of pain was as follows: 126 (59%) left superior PV (LSPV), 28 (13%) left inferior, 28 (13%) all PVs, 12 (5.6%) right superior, 12 (5.6%) right inferior, 18 (8.4%) left common, and 2 (0.9%) right common PV.


CONCLUSIONS
PVI using multi-electrode catheters more commonly caused pain sensation in LSPV. There was no influence of catheter type or PV size on pain localization. Our findings, which are similar to those using an 8-mm ablation catheter, imply that location of pain is not catheter dependent but rather a reflection of autonomic physiology.
['Laish-Farkash|Avishag|A|', 'Katz|Amos|A|', 'Cohen|Ornit|O|', 'Osherov|Azriel|A|', 'Bruocha|Sharon|S|', 'Khalameizer|Vladimir|V|']
D001281:Atrial Fibrillation D017115:Catheter Ablation D015984:Causality D016292:Conscious Sedation D004566:Electrodes D004867:Equipment Design D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis D005260:Female D006329:Heart Conduction System D006801:Humans D007557:Israel D008297:Male D008875:Middle Aged D010147:Pain Measurement D010149:Pain, Postoperative D015995:Prevalence D011667:Pulmonary Veins D012307:Risk Factors D016896:Treatment Outcome
Pain Ablation Pulmonary veins Circular multi-electrode catheter Atrial fibrillation