Comparison of lesion characteristics using temperature-flow-controlled versus conventional power-controlled ablation with fixed ablation index

Abstract

Introduction: The QDOT-MicroTM catheter is a novel irrigated contact force (CF) sensing catheter which benefits from thermocouples for temperature monitoring, allowing temperature-flow-controlled (TFC) ablation. We compared lesion metrics at fixed ablation index (AI) value during TFC-ablation and conventional power-controlled (PC)-ablation. Methods: A total of 480 RF-applications were performed on ex-vivo swine myocardium with predefined AI targets (400/550) or until steam-pop occurred, using the QDOT-MicroTM (TFC-ablation) and Thermocool SmartTouch SFTM (PC-ablation). Results: Both TFC-ablation and PC-ablation produced similar lesions in volume (218 ± 116 vs. 212 ± 107 mm3, p =.65); however, lesions using TFC-ablation were larger in surface area (41.3 ± 8.8 vs. 34.8 ± 8.0 mm2, p