Echocardiographic advances in atrial fibrillation and supraventricular arrhythmias

Advances in echocardiography have paved the way for the development of intracardiac catheters with ultrasound transducers mounted on its tip. With this technology it has become possible for the interventional electrophysiologist to perform continuous echocardiographic examination during a procedure without the need for general anaesthesia or additional staff. Intracardiac echocardiography (ICE) allows the monitoring of catheter movement in real-time, assessment of catheter-tissue contact and potentially prevents and recognizes complications like thrombus formation and pericardial effusion. In addition recent technologies allow acquiring the full spectrum of Doppler-imaging permitting evaluation of haemodynamic data during the procedure. All these advances have made ICE an ideal tool for the interventional electrophysiologist, serving as a diagnostic and imaging tool during invasive electrophysiological procedures. This review will summarize currently available technology of ICE and its indications and applications in electrophysiological procedures.