Arrhythmias & electrophysiology
Artificial intelligence-intracardiac echocardiography-guided pulsed field ablation of atrial fibrillation with variable-loop circular catheter
Authors' conclusion
AIFAM enables safe and reliable LA reconstruction for successful PFA ablation, including concomitant AF ablation and LAAO using VLCC, and reduces the need for pre-ablation mapping in select patients undergoing index ablation.
Study context
- Population
- Patients undergoing pulsed field ablation (PFA) for atrial fibrillation (AF) with a variable-loop circular catheter, AI-ICE (AIFAM)-guided left atrial (LA) reconstruction without pre-map184 with ≥1 follow-up
- Participants
- 210 patients
- Outcome
- Feasibility, safety and arrhythmia-free outcomes of a no-pre-mapping AIFAM-guided PFA workflow
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Acute procedural success
100%
Freedom from arrhythmia after 60-day blanking, paroxysmal AF, at 270 days
77.7%
Freedom from arrhythmia after 60-day blanking, non-paroxysmal AF, at 270 days
71.8%
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
Procedure time and LA dwell time
- Skin-to-skin time, ablation alone (min)
- 78.8 ± 29.1
- LA dwell time, ablation alone (min)
- 47.1 ± 18.8
- Skin-to-skin time, concomitant AF ablation + left atrial appendage occlusion (LAAO) (min)
- 87.3 ± 22.9
- LA dwell time, concomitant AF ablation + LAAO (min)
- 54.6 ± 13.0
Safety
- Acute non-catheter-related vascular complication
- 0.5%
- Late complications
- 0
- 1 patient
Original publication
Artificial intelligence-intracardiac echocardiography-guided pulsed field ablation of atrial fibrillation with variable-loop circular catheter. Europace. Published 26 August 2026. doi:10.
Summarised from the published abstract; every number is checked against it