ICE: Intracardiac Ultrasound Within the Left Atrium During Radiofrequency Ablation of Nonvalvular Atrial Fibrillation

The second group (study group) will have the ICE catheter placed through one of two existing 8F sheaths already in the left atrium. The ICE catheter will be exchanged in the sheath utilizing the lasso multipolar mapping catheter during left pulmonary vein ablation lines. During exchange, suction and irrigation techniques will be utilized to avoid any air or thrombus embolization. All patients will have standard anticoagulation during the procedure with heparin infusion adjusted to an activated clotting time (ACT) of 350-400. The left sided ICE catheter will be adjusted to visualize left sided structures, ablation tip and tissue interface, and adjacent noncardiac structures such as the esophagus during radiofrequency ablation of the left pulmonary vein system.

Group 1 will receive standard pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) procedure utilizing intracardiac guided ultrasound (ICE) placed within the right atrium via the femoral vein.