Cryoballoon ablation for iatrogenic left atrial tachycardia

Percutaneous and surgical left atrial ablation has been widely used to treat paroxysmal and persistent atrial fibrillation. However, left atrial ablation may result in left atrial tachycardia due to an iatrogenic substrate created by the ablation lesion sets. Ablation of these iatrogenic arrhythmias can be technically challenging, requiring prolonged procedures and the use of three-dimensional electroanatomical mapping systems. In some cases, the atrial tachycardia may terminate during mapping, or may degenerate into atrial fibrillation during the procedure before adequate mapping. Some patients also have several arrhythmia circuits, each requiring separate mapping, which may be time consuming. The present article reports the cases of three patients in whom a large cryoballoon was used to empirically ablate the pulmonary vein antral region, which is important for the initiation and maintenance of these arrhythmias.