Ablation Technology Update: 2004

Dear readers,

What ablation technology does your lab utilize? In this special supplement, EP Lab Digest showcases the newest ablation products and techniques. In the first article, we feature an interview with Dr. Jay Simonson from North Memorial Medical Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In the article, Dr. Simonson discusses his lab's experience using the QWIKMAP Software Technology and QWIKSTAR Ablation Catheter by Biosense Webster, Inc. In the second article, Cardionet presents an interesting case about a patient who was misdiagnosed for years, and was put on anti-anxiety medications. They detected a real-time urgent event that required an ER visit. They also describe a post-ablation monitoring session in which they found yet another urgent arrhythmia. In the third article, Dr. Charles Lanzarotti discusses the use of the Freezor^® cryocatheter by CryoCath for the treatment of cardiac arrhythmias. Dr. Lanzarotti, who has been performing ablations for the past 10 years, led the charge to bring the cryotherapy system to St. Luke's Medical Center in Milwaukee, where the first cryoablation was performed in November 2003. Since then, Dr. Lanzarotti and his team have treated over 30 patients with cryoablation. The next article is an interview with Dr. Sanjeev Saksena from the UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson School of Medicine. Dr. Saksena describes the importance of anatomical visualization during EP procedures, and notes that the integration of a 3D mapping system has become a necessary tool for every EP lab. Dr. Robert S. Fishel and colleagues from Florida Electrophysiology Associates and JFK Medical Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, report on a patient with a 3-year history of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation. They write that ablation has become an effective therapy for paroxysmal and persistent atrial fibrillation patients. In the last article, Drs. Mark Wood and Kenneth Ellenbogen from Virginia Commonwealth University Health Systems in Richmond, Virginia, describe how the phased-array intracardiac echocardiography system by Siemens Medical Solutions, Inc. (ACUSON) has been a valuable tool to direct pulmonary vein isolation in real time for the treatment of atrial fibrillation. We hope that the information in this supplement will serve as a valuable resource for you and help you decide which ablation options correlate best with your lab's needs.

Thanks for reading!