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Optimal ablation settings of TactiFlex SE laser-cut irrigated-tip catheter: comparison with ThermoCool SmartTouch SurroundFlow porous irrigated-tip catheter

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Journal of Interventional Cardiac Electrophysiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Background

The TactiFlex SE catheter (TFSE, Abbott) with a contact force (CF) sensor and a laser-cut irrigated-tip has recently become available but lacks a lesion quality marker. This study aimed to explore distinctions in lesion characteristics between the TFSE and the ThermoCool SmartTouch SurroundFlow catheter (STSF, Biosense Webster), which utilizes a porous irrigated tip, and to assess the most effective application settings for the TFSE.

Methods

Lesions were generated using varying settings of radiofrequency power (30–50 W), CF (10–20 g), application duration (10–40 s), and catheter orientation (perpendicular or parallel) in an ex vivo porcine model. Comparative analysis between the TFSE and STSF was conducted for lesion characteristics and incidence of steam pops using predictive models in regression analyses.

Results

Among 720 applications, the TFSE exhibited a significantly lower incidence of steam pops compared to the STSF (0.6% vs. 36.8%, P < 0.001). Moreover, coefficients of determination (R2) for the TFSE were higher than those for the STSF concerning lesion depth (0.710 vs. 0.541) and volume (0.723 vs. 0.618). The lesion size generated with the TFSE was notably smaller than that with the STSF under identical application settings. Additionally, to achieve a lesion depth ≥ 4.0 mm, the TFSE required an application duration 8–12 s longer than the STSF under similar settings.

Conclusions

The TFSE demonstrated a lower incidence of steam pops and superior predictability in lesion size compared to the STSF. However, the TFSE necessitated a longer application duration than the STSF to achieve an adequate lesion size.

Graphical Abstract

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Data Availability

Data can be made available upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the doctors, clinical engineers, and staff at the Cardiology Department of Chukyo Hospital for their excellent support during this study.

Funding

The authors did not receive support from any organization for the submitted work.

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Author notes

  1. Yasuya Inden

    Present address: Department of Cardiology, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, 65 Tsurumai, Showa, Nagoya, Aichi, Nagoya, 466-8550, Japan

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Cardiology, Japan Community Healthcare Organization Chukyo Hospital, Nagoya, Japan

    Kazumasa Suga, Hiroyuki Kato, Shigeki Akita, Taku Sakurai, Ryusuke Ota, Takuya Okada, Hisashi Murakami, Kenji Kada & Naoya Tsuboi

  2. Department of Cardiology, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, 65 Tsurumai, Showa, Nagoya, Aichi, Nagoya, 466-8550, Japan

    Satoshi Yanagisawa & Toyoaki Murohara

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  1. Kazumasa Suga
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Correspondence to Satoshi Yanagisawa.

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Ethical approval

This study was approved by the local institutional ethics committee of Chukyo Hospital.

Informed consent

Not applicable in this ex vivo study.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Suga, K., Kato, H., Akita, S. et al. Optimal ablation settings of TactiFlex SE laser-cut irrigated-tip catheter: comparison with ThermoCool SmartTouch SurroundFlow porous irrigated-tip catheter. J Interv Card Electrophysiol (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10840-024-01797-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10840-024-01797-9

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