Intracardiac echocardiography: from electroanatomic correlation to clinical application in interventional...

Intracardiac echocardiography (ICE), using an ultrasound transducer at the tip of a percutaneously placed catheter, has recently been introduced for the visualization of the intracardiac anatomy and in order to reduce the fluoroscopy time. This review focuses predominantly on the current use of ICE in interventional electrophysiology. ICE has been shown to facilitate the targeting of specific anatomic landmarks, such as the crista terminalis, the Eustachian ridge, the tricuspid annulus, the coronary sinus ostium, and the pulmonary veins that cannot be adequately visualized at fluoroscopy. Direct imaging of these sites can be advantageous in that it facilitates the accurate guidance of the ablative procedure and shortens the fluoroscopy time. ICE has been demonstrated to be useful in the positioning and stabilization of the imaging ablation catheter, the evaluation of the lesion size and continuity and in the immediate identification of complications. Furthermore, in the last few years there has been a revival in the use of transseptal catheterization due to a larger development of radiofrequency catheter ablation in the left atrium. ICE, providing excellent views of the fossa ovalis and of the transseptal apparatus, can be safely used to prevent life-threatening complications following inadvertent puncture of anatomic structures such as the lateral wall of the left atrium or the aortic root. Moreover, ICE appears to be very useful in combining true anatomical features with electrical activation in an attempt to construct realistic electrical-anatomical maps. Finally, the three-dimensional tomographic reconstruction of intracardiac images and the phased array ICE catheter with Doppler capabilities seem to be promising tools both for the guidance of ablation procedures as well as in leading experimental studies.