Abstract: Transeptal puncture is required to perform a pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) and is performed under fluoroscopic guidance with a complication rate of 1%. The transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) guidance of transeptal punctures widely used during catheter-based-procedures.
Methods: In this retrospective study 14 patients (pts)undergoing PVI under TEE-guidance (TEE-group) and 14 pts without TEE-Guidance(classic group) of the transeptal puncture were analyzed.
Results: Patient characteristics are shown in Table 1. In the TEE-group the average procedure-duration was 112,3 min, the average amount of contrast agent 78,9 ml and the average fluoroscopic time21,5 min. In the Classic-group the average procedure-duration was 120,9min, the average amount of contrast agent 75ml and the average fluoroscopic time29,8min (p<0,01). Conclusions: TEE-guidance of transeptal Puncture significantly reduce the fluoroscopic timebut not the length of the PVI or the amount of contrast agent. We recommend TEE during PVI to exclude intracardiac thrombi and for guidance of the transeptal puncture. The duration of the PVI will not be prolonged, the fluoroscopic time shortened and hopefully also reducing the incidence of complications.