Joseph You

and 2 more

Introduction: Management of gestational supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) is challenging and requires a multidisciplinary approach for optimal management. Antiarrhythmic pharmacologic therapy has variable efficacy and carries potential risks to both mother and fetus. Catheter ablation during pregnancy has traditionally been considered a last option due to procedural safety and ionizing radiation risks. Recent advances including intracardiac echocardiography and multi-electrode electroanatomic mapping have greatly enhanced the safety and efficacy profile to successfully perform ablations with minimal to no fluoroscopy even during pregnancy; however, most of the literature publications are case reports. Though the use of fluoroscopy-guided catheter ablations for refractory cardiac arrhythmias in pregnancy have been extensively studied, there are still a paucity of data about the efficacy, safety, and aggregate outcomes of purely zero-fluoroscopic ablations in comparison to minimal fluoroscopic approaches. Methods: A literature search was performed for catheter ablations in the past fifteen years for gestational arrhythmias that used minimal or no fluoroscopy. Sixteen cases describing catheter ablations with zero-fluoroscopy were compared to twenty-four cases using minimal fluoroscopy, defined as total documented exposure time of less than 10 minutes. Baseline characteristics, techniques, and outcomes of both groups were compared. Results: Analysis of both groups demonstrated that zero-fluoroscopic approaches for treatment of gestational SVT, though underutilized, have comparable successful outcomes without additional risk compared to minimally fluoroscopic procedures. Utilization of electroanatomic mapping with or without concomitant intracardiac echocardiography in the zero-fluoroscopy group further demonstrated equal efficacy rates of successful ablation when compared to the control group. Furthermore, there were no reported immediate or long term periprocedural complications in either group, including delivery outcomes. Conclusions: Zero-fluoroscopy catheter ablation for SVT in pregnancy appears to be as effective and safe when compared to minimal fluoroscopy ablations while eliminating the theoretical risks of ionizing radiation.

Raman Mitra

and 20 more

Background: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has overwhelmed healthcare systems worldwide often at the cost of patients with serious non-COVID-19 conditions. Outcomes and risks of contracting COVID-19 in patients hospitalized during the pandemic are unknown. Objective: To report our experience in safely performing electrophysiology procedures during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: We examined non-COVID-19 patients who underwent electrophysiology procedures during the peak of the pandemic between March 16, 2020 and May 11, 2020 at seven Northwell Health hospitals. We developed a priority algorithm to stratify inpatients and outpatients requiring electrophysiology procedures and instituted a protocol to minimize hospital length of stay (LOS). All patients underwent post discharge 30-day tele-health follow-up and chart review up to 150 days. Results: A total of 217 patients underwent electrophysiology procedures, of which 86 (39%) patients were outpatients. A total of 108 (49.8%) patients had a LOS less than 24 hours, including 74 device implantations and generator changes, 24 cardioversions, five ablations, and one electrophysiology study. There were eleven (5.1%) procedure or arrhythmia related re-admissions and two (0.9%) minor procedural complications. Overall average hospital LOS was 83.4±165.1 hours and a median of 24.0 hours. For outpatient procedures, average hospital LOS was 9.4±13.4 hours and a median of 4.3 hours. Overall follow-up time was 83.9 ±42 days and a median of 84 days. During follow-up, two (0.9%) patients tested positive for COVID-19 and recovered uneventfully. No deaths occurred. Conclusion: During the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, patients safely underwent essential electrophysiological procedures without increased incidence of acquiring COVID-19.