A comparison of pulmonary vein ostial anatomy by computerized tomography, echocardiography, and venography in patients with atrial fibrillation having radiofrequency catheter ablation

Accurate assessment of pulmonary vein anatomy is important to procedures that isolate these structures in patients with atrial fibrillation. Various modalities of pulmonary vein (PV) imaging are employed in clinical practice; however, the consistency of findings among the different modalities is unknown. The purpose of this study is to compare PV ostial anatomy by 4 common imaging techniques. Twenty-four patients undergoing catheter-based PV isolation procedures for atrial fibrillation had their PV ostial anatomy determined by cardiac computerized tomography (CT) and transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) before ablation and by intracardiac echocardiography (ICE) and venography during the ablation procedure. The number and maximal dimension of the PV ostia were determined by each imaging modality. In the 24 patients, 98 PV ostia were visualized by CT, 93 by ICE, 81 by TEE, and 71 by venography. The average ostial diameters were similar between CT (1.45 ± 0.29 cm) and ICE (1.51 ± 0.22 cm, p = 0.066). Compared with CT or ICE, the ostial diameters were larger with venography (1.67 ± 0.32 cm) and smaller with TEE (1.16 ± 0.28 cm, all p