Intracardiac Echocardiography Versus Fluoroscopy During Left-Sided Accessory Pathway Ablation in Children and Young...

The use of intracardiac echocardiography (ICE) has been well established for use in catheter ablation of arrhythmias and offers direct visualization of atrial septum and left-sided structures in adults. There, however, is a dearth of data in the pediatric population. The primary objective of this study was to determine the outcomes of left-sided accessory pathway catheter ablation in children and young adults where ICE was used in addition to 3-dimensional (3D)/traditional mapping and to compare outcomes in catheter ablations where only traditional fluoroscopy was used in addition to 3D/traditional mapping. The results of this study showed that the use of ICE showed no significant differences in major adverse events when compared to traditional fluoroscopy. In conclusion, ICE is an effective and safe modality to use in left-sided accessory pathway ablation in pediatric populations, but further large-scale studies and cost-benefit analysis are needed to determine its practical usage compared to traditional fluoroscopy.