Novel Imaging Method Locates Cardiac Arrhythmias, Finds Study
Courtesy PubMed, EWI isochrones of a left atrial roof tachycardia
Cardiac arrhythmias are a cause of morbidity and mortality, often necessitating invasive catheter ablation for curative treatment. Diagnosis and localization of cardiac arrhythmias are critical for clinical decision making and treatment planning. In a study, researchers have used noninvasive ultrasound called electromechanical wave imaging (EWI) to generate maps of the heart and to identify the sites of arrhythmias suggesting that the addition of this imaging method to clinical workflows could help improve decision-making and treatment planning. The research has been published in the journal Science Translational Medicine on March 25, 2020.
Electrocardiogram (ECG) algorithms have been proposed to aid in the localization of arrhythmias but have varying accuracy, and inter-observer variability is common. EWI is a high frame rate ultrasound technique that can noninvasively map with high accuracy the electromechanical activation of atrial and ventricular arrhythmias in adult patients. There has been some controversy regarding the accuracy of the inverse solution in ECGI (electrocardiogram imaging). Exploration of other noninvasive mapping approaches, such as EWI, is therefore warranted. Dr Christopher S. Grubb and his team conducted a study to evaluate the accuracy of EWI for localization of various arrhythmias in all four chambers of the heart before catheter ablation.
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