Efficacy and safety of intracardiac echocardiography-guided radiofrequency ablation for atrial fibrillation: a retrospective report of 192 cases

Objective To investigate the efficacy and safety of catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation under the guidance of intracardiac echocardiography (ICE). Methods A retrospective cohort trial was conducted on all the patients who underwent radiofrequency catheter ablation due to atrial fibrillation in our department from February 2019 to July 2020. They were divided into ICE group (n=192) and non-ICE group (n=167). The radiation exposure time, radiation exposure amount, total ablation time, single coil isolation rate, and incidence of complications were compared between the 2 groups to evaluate the efficacy and safety of ICE-guided ablation for atrial fibrillation. Results The ICE group had significantly shorter total ablation time (68.35±1.09 vs 74.37±1.69 min, P < 0.01), higher single coil isolation rate (70.83% vs 53.89%, P < 0.01), less radiation exposure amount (33.86±1.51 vs 212.30±21.11 mGy, P < 0.01) and shorter radiation time (4.90±0.23 vs 13.51±0.34 min, P < 0.01) when compared with the non-ICE group.