Association between proactive esophageal cooling and increased lab throughput

Area of Science:

• Cardiac Electrophysiology
• Medical Device Technology

Background:

• Proactive esophageal cooling is FDA-cleared to mitigate esophageal injury during radiofrequency (RF) cardiac ablation.
• Esophageal cooling may reduce procedure times for RF pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) compared to luminal esophageal temperature (LET) monitoring.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantify the impact of proactive esophageal cooling on electrophysiology (EP) lab throughput for PVI cases.
• To evaluate changes in EP lab efficiency following the adoption of esophageal cooling technology.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of EP lab throughput data from three sites before and after adopting proactive esophageal cooling.
• Comparison of PVI case numbers over equal time frames using LET monitoring versus proactive esophageal cooling.

Main Results:

• A total of 2498 PVIs were performed; 1026 pre-adoption (LET monitoring) and 1472 post-adoption (esophageal cooling).
• Proactive esophageal cooling adoption resulted in a mean 43% increase in EP lab throughput (p < .0001).
• Increased throughput was observed despite a reduction in the number of operators in the post-adoption period.

Conclusions:

• Adoption of proactive esophageal cooling is linked to a significant rise in EP lab throughput for PVI procedures.
• This technology enhances procedural efficiency and potentially increases patient access to care.