AF Symposium 2016

Steve Ryan at 2016 AF Symposium

Two Challenging, Difficult Catheter Ablation Cases with LAA Closure

by Steve S. Ryan, PhD

One of the most interesting and practical sessions was “Challenging Cases in Catheter Ablation and LAA Closure for AF”.  Featured were a panel with some of the world’s ‘master’ Electrophysiologists (EPs). Each presented one or two cases of their most challenging and difficult cases from the past year. The panelists were:

• Dr. David Keane, St. Vincent’s University Hospital, Dublin, Ireland (Moderator).
• Dr. Moussa Mansour, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA.
• Dr. Andrea Natale, Texas Cardiac Arrhythmia Institute, Austin, TX
• Dr. Douglas Packer, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN
• Dr. Vivek Reddy, Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, NY
• Dr. Miguel Valderrabano, Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, TX
• Dr. David Wilber, Loyola University Medical Center, Chicago, IL

Two cases of Persistent A-Fib stood out as significant for readers of A-Fib.com. To learn why, see my ‘Take Away’ comments that follow each case description.

Electrically Dead Left Atrium

Dr. Miguel Valderrabano

Dr. Valderrabano presented the case of a 48-year-old female patient with symptomatic Persistent A-Fib. She had been cardioverted several times and had tried several antiarrhythmic drugs including amiodarone. She had had Pulmonary Vein Isolations (PVI) by other EPs before being referred to Dr. Valderrabano.

Her left atrium was enlarged. Dr. Valderrabano ablated her again but couldn’t isolate her Left Atrial Appendage (LAA) where A-Fib signals were still coming from. He used the Lariat (SentreHeart, Inc.), a noose-like suture delivery device, to close off and electrically remove her LAA.

After these steps, she had a leak from her closed-off LAA which had to be plugged. She was A-Fib free but developed Atrial Flutter which had to be ablated.

After all these ablations, she was finally in sinus rhythm. But at what cost? All the extensive ablations and scarring had made her Left Atrium electrically dead and unable to contract normally (“Stiff Left Atrium”).

The patient knew she might lose contraction of her left atrium, but was most happy to be in sinus rhythm after years of symptomatic A-Fib.

TAKE-AWAYS FOR PATIENTS

Lariat to Prevent A-Fib Signals from the LAA: The Lariat is an occlusion device, and like the Watchman, is normally used for closing off the Left Atrial Appendage (LAA) to prevent A-Fib clots breaking loose and causing a stroke. It’s particularly useful for people who can’t or don’t want to take anticoagulants.

In this case, the LAA was the source of non-Pulmonary Vein (PV) signals (and often is). By removing it, patients can often be restored to sinus rhythm. (Master EPs now consider the LAA the most important source of non-PV triggers. Unfortunately, many EPs are unaware of the LAA’s importance and don’t check it for non-PV triggers during an ablation.)

Stiff Left Atrium: No one wants to lose their Left Atrium’s ability to contract and pump. But in extreme cases, this may happen.

I talked to one of the most experienced EPS in the world who has had to do several ablations which restored a patient to sinus but also rendered their left atrium electrically dead and unable to contract normally. [Note: the Left Ventricle does most of the heavy-duty pumping work.]

His patients, even though they knew the risks, were overjoyed to finally be in normal sinus rhythm. After years of symptomatic A-Fib, they had their life back again.

FIRM Advantages and Problems

Dr Vivek Reddy, Mt Siani Hospital

Dr. Vivek Reddy presented the case of a 63-year-old male in Persistent A-Fib who had had several ablations before being referred to him. After wearing a Holter monitor for one-week, the data showed an A-Fib burden of 27%, i.e. his A-Fib was very symptomatic and burdensome.

Dr. Reddy did a FIRM-guided ablation, but the patient was still in A-Fib.

Upon closer examination and manual mapping, the ‘renegade’ A-Fib signal source was found and ablated, which restored the patient to sinus rhythm.

Dr. Reddy had discovered the A-Fib signal in the area where the FIRM basket catheter didn’t map. As mentioned in other Symposium presentations, due to design problems, the FIRM basket catheter maps only slightly more than ½ of the left atrium. (New basket catheters to correct this problem are being developed by the manufacturer, Abbott/Topera.)

TAKE-AWAYS FOR PATIENTS

Limited but Extensive Data with Fast Results: Even though the FIRM mapping and ablation system seems to currently have built-in limitations, master EPs still use the FIRM basket mapping catheter because it provides a great deal of important information very quickly. It is especially useful in cases of Persistent A-Fib where it identifies non-PV triggers such as rotors and focal drivers. As Dr. Reddy stated earlier, this is the future of A-Fib ablation.

Choose an EP Who Can Compensate for FIRM Limitations: When choosing an EP to do your ablation, it isn’t enough to select someone who uses the FIRM system. You need an EP who knows the limitations of the FIRM system and how to find and ablate non-PV triggers the FIRM system may miss. The fact that an EP uses the FIRM system is not a guarantee you will have a successful ablation.

Wrap Up

The two cases I chose to write about were the most informative for those A-Fib patients seeking to understand the most current treatment options. This Saturday afternoon session was the last of the 2016 AF Symposium.

For more about the Lariat occlusion device, see my brief article: Lariat II Suture Delivery Device.
For more about the FIRM mapping system, see my brief article: FIRM Mapping System—Should Ablation Patients Avoid It?

Return to 2016 AF Symposium Reports reby Steve Ryan, PhD

If you find any errors on this page, email us. Y Last updated: Saturday, February 16, 2019