Grape-sized electric balloon

[www.dailymail.co.uk]

I'm interested to know whether anyone has any thoughts about this?
Is it an improvement over current ablation techniques or not?

Sounds like cryo using RF instead of cold, so I would expect it will have the same drawbacks. Its only advantages will be it's faster, cheaper, and can be performed by a less skilled doctor.

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Carey
Sounds like cryo using RF instead of cold, so I would expect it will have the same drawbacks. Its only advantages will be it's faster, cheaper, and can be performed by a less skilled doctor.

My first EP I ever saw was on a cryo trial back then. He said cryo is better because he lightly numbs freezes the area first and if the firing in that area remains he knew he got the wrong spot so the heart tissue is not permanently damaged (thaw out) like it would had been if he burned it with RF…but if the firing area stopped he knew he got it so he would freeze more to destroy that area. I agree he may not had been skilled because I heard he was kicked off the trial.

Cryo's two big problems that I would expect this device to also have:

• Atria aren't perfectly round but the ballon is. Consequently, it often doesn't make perfect contact and can leave gaps.
• It can only isolate the pulmonary veins. If you have afib sources elsewhere, it can't address them.

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Carey
Cryo's two big problems that I would expect this device to also have:


[*] Atria aren't perfectly round but the ballon is. Consequently, it often doesn't make perfect contact and can leave gaps.

The EP making my touch-up saw one PV had reconnected after my PV cryo ablation (made by another EP). He said it was common, exactly for this reason. He also said that, depending on the atrium (shape, size), access to some of the patient's PV with a cryoballoon wasn't always easy.

Thanks Carey, Susan and Pompon.