Benjamin R. Knowles1, Dennis Caulfield1, Aldo Rivaldi2, Michael Cooklin2, Jaswinder S. Gill2, Julian Bostock2, Reza Razavi1, Kawal S. Rhode1, Tobias Schaeffter1
1Division of Imaging Sciences, King's College London, London, UK; 2Department of Cardiology, Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
Radiofrequency ablation of the pulmonary veins is a common treatment for atrial fibrillation. The endpoint of the procedure is usually determined by measuring signals within each PV to ensure electrical isolation. Electrical isolation however, may be caused permanently by necrosis of the myocardium, or temporally by oedema formation. In this study we image acute post ablation patients using a combination of delayed enhancement and T2 weighted MRI. We visualise the patterns of enhancement and oedema to characterise the ablation lesions and assess wherever pulmonary veins are permanently isolated by necrosis, or have areas of temporary isolation by oedema.
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