Left atrial catheter ablation is an established non-pharmacological therapy for the treatment of atrial fibrillation. The importance of a noninvasive multimodality imaging approach is emphasized by the current guidelines for the various phases of the ablation work-up e.g. patient identification, therapy guidance and procedural evaluation. Advances in the capabilities of imaging modalities and the increasing cost of healthcare warrant a review of the multimodality approach. This review discusses the application of cardiac imaging for pulmonary vein and left atrial ablation divided into stages: pre-procedural stage (assessment of left atrial dimensions, left atrial appendage thrombus and pulmonary vein anatomy), peri-procedural stage (integration of anatomical and electrical information) and post-procedural stage (evaluation of efficacy by assessment of tissue properties). Each section is dedicated to one of the subtopics of a stage, allowing a thorough comparison to be made between the strengths and weaknesses of the different imaging modalities and the identification of one that exhibits the potential for a single technique approach.

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doi.org/10.1016/j.ijcard.2014.06.047, hdl.handle.net/1765/64215
International Journal of Cardiology
Department of Gynaecology & Obstetrics

Bhagirath, P., van der Graaf, M., Karim, R., van Driel, V., Ramanna, H., Rhode, P., … Götte, M. (2014). Multimodality imaging for patient evaluation and guidance of catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation - Current status and future perspective. International Journal of Cardiology (Vol. 175, pp. 400–408). doi:10.1016/j.ijcard.2014.06.047