When local impedance meets contact force: preliminary experience from the CHARISMA registry

Purpose Highly localized impedance (LI) measurements during atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation have emerged as a viable real-time indicator of tissue characteristics and the consequent durability of the lesions created. We investigated the impact of catheter-tissue contact force (CF) on LI behavior during pulmonary vein isolation (PVI).Methods Forty-five consecutive patients of the CHARISMA registry undergoing de novo AF radiofrequency (RF) catheter ablation with a novel open-irrigated-tip catheter endowed with CF and LI measurement capabilities (Stablepoint (TM) catheter, Boston Scientific) were included.Results A total of 2895 point-by-point RF applications were analyzed (RF delivery time (DT) = 8.7 +/- 4s, CF = 13 +/-+/- 8 g, LI drop = 23 +/-+/- 7 Omega). All PVs were successfully isolated in an overall procedure time of 118 +/-+/- 34 min (fluoroscopy time = 13 +/-+/- 8 min). The magnitude of LI drop weakly correlated with CF (r = 0.13, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.09 to 0.16, p < 0.0001), whereas both CF and LI drop inversely correlated with DT (r = -0.26, 95%CI: -0.29 to -0.22, p < 0.0001 for CF; r = -0.36, 95%CI: -0.39 to -0.33, p < 0.0001 for LI). For each 10 g of CF, LI drop markedly increased from 22.4 +/- 7 Omega to 24.0 +/- 8 Omega at 5 to 25 g CF intervals (5-14 g of CF vs 15-24 g of CF, p < 0.0001), whereas it showed smooth transition over 25 g (24.8 +/- 7 Omega at >= 25 g CF intervals, p = 0.0606 vs 15-24 g of CF). No major complications occurred during the procedures or within 30 days.Conclusions CF significantly affects LI drop and probable consequent lesion formation during RF PVI. The benefit of higher contact (> 25 g) between the catheter and the tissue appears to have less impact on LI drop.