Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT: Background
Pulsed-field ablation (PFA) is a novel ablation modality for atrial fibrillation (AF) ablating myocardium by electroporation without tissue-heating. With its different mechanism of tissue ablation, it is assumed that lesion creation is divergent to thermal energy sources. 68Ga-fibroblast-activation protein inhibitor (FAPI) PET/CT targets FAP-alpha expressed by activated fibroblasts. We aimed to assess 68Ga-FAPI uptake in pulmonary veins as surrogate for ablation damage after PFA and cryoballoon ablation (CBA).Methods
26 patients (15 PFA, 11 CBA) underwent 68Ga-FAPI-PET/CT after ablation. Standardized uptake values (SUV) and fibroblast-activation volumes of localized tracer uptake were assessed.Results
Patient characteristics were comparable between groups. In PFA, focal FAPI uptake was only observed in 3/15 (20%) patients, whereas in the CBA cohort, 10/11 (90.9%) patients showed atrial visual uptake. We observed lower values of SUVmax (2.85 ± 0.56 vs 4.71 ± 2.06, P = 0.025) and FAV (1.13 ± 0.84 cm3 vs 3.91 ± 2.74 cm3, P = 0.014) along with a trend towards lower SUVpeak and SUVmean in PFA vs CBA patients, respectively.Conclusion
Tissue response with respect to fibroblast activation seems to be less pronounced in PFA compared to established thermal ablation systems. This functional assessment might contribute to a better understanding of lesion formation in thermal and PFA ablation potentially contributing to better safety outcomes.
SUBMITTER: Kupusovic J
PROVIDER: S-EPMC10558367 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Oct
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Kupusovic Jana J Kessler Lukas L Bruns Florian F Bohnen Jan-Eric JE Nekolla Stephan G SG Weber Manuel M MM Lauenroth Anna A Rattka Manuel M Hermann Ken K Dobrev Dobromir D Rassaf Tienush T Wakili Reza R Rischpler Christoph C Siebermair Johannes J
Journal of nuclear cardiology : official publication of the American Society of Nuclear Cardiology 20230321 5
<h4>Background</h4>Pulsed-field ablation (PFA) is a novel ablation modality for atrial fibrillation (AF) ablating myocardium by electroporation without tissue-heating. With its different mechanism of tissue ablation, it is assumed that lesion creation is divergent to thermal energy sources. <sup>68</sup>Ga-fibroblast-activation protein inhibitor (FAPI) PET/CT targets FAP-alpha expressed by activated fibroblasts. We aimed to assess <sup>68</sup>Ga-FAPI uptake in pulmonary veins as surrogate for a ...[more]