Does increasing catheter contact force affect radiofrequency lesion size and incidence of steam pop in the beating canine heart?
Catheter contact force is a critical determinant of radiofrequency lesion size and steam pop incidence, and cannot be reliably predicted by electrogram parameters or initial impedance.
Radiofrequencylesion size and the incidence of steam pop increase strikingly with increasing CF. Electrogram parameters and initial impedance are poor predictors of CF for radiofrequency ablation.
Ikeda et al. (Sat,) studied this question.