PiLOT-AF study
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Radiofrequency Power, Lesion size Index and Oesophageal Temperature alerts during Atrial Fibrillation ablation: a pilot study
IRAS ID
186664
Contact name
Timothy R Betts
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 3 months, 31 days
Research summary
Atrial fibrillation is a very common abnormal heart rhythm, triggered by rapid electrical activity originating from the pulmonary veins (PVs) that drain blood from the lungs back to the left atrium (LA). Ablation of the junction between the PVs and the LA, electrically isolating the veins from the heart, is the key to prevent AF.
Burns through the all heart muscle are required to achieve permanent PVs isolation. New technologies are currently available to predict the ablation lesion depth and to guide the duration of each application. However, deeper lesions mean a higher risk of overheating and damage of adjacent structures such as the oesophagus that lies against the back wall of the LA. In order to minimize this risk, we continuously monitor the temperature inside the oesophagus during the procedure through a probe placed in the oesophagus and we promptly terminate energy delivery in case of any oesophageal temperature rises more than 39°C.
To date, we do not know if a low power for a longer time is better than a high power for a shorter time when ablating on the LA posterior wall in order to create permanent scars without heating the oesophagus.
Therefore, we plan to compare the incidence of oesophageal temperature alerts and the success of the procedure with four different energy settings during ablation on the LA posterior wall.REC name
South Central - Oxford C Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/SC/0610
Date of REC Opinion
10 Nov 2015
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion