Key result
High-energy carbon ion beams create lesions that chronically interrupt cardiac conduction in a porcine model.
Why the study?
Does high-energy carbon ion beam irradiation interrupt cardiac conduction in a pig model?
Does high-energy carbon ion beam irradiation interrupt cardiac conduction in a pig model?
High-energy carbon ion beams can noninvasively create cardiac lesions that chronically interrupt conduction, demonstrating feasibility for catheter-free arrhythmia ablation.
Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
Does not support clinical adoption of carbon ion ablation; leaves open feasibility of catheter-free arrhythmia therapy pending human trials.
High-energy ion beams are successfully used in cancer therapy and precisely deliver high doses of ionizing radiation to small deep-seated target volumes. A similar noninvasive treatment modality for cardiac arrhythmias was tested here. This study used high-energy carbon ions for ablation of cardiac tissue in pigs. Doses of 25, 40, and 55 Gy were applied in forced-breath-hold to the atrioventricular junction, left atrial pulmonary vein junction, and freewall left ventricle of intact animals. Procedural success was tracked by (1.) in-beam positron-emission tomography (PET) imaging; (2.) intracardiac voltage mapping with visible lesion on ultrasound; (3.) lesion outcomes in pathohistolgy. High doses (40-55 Gy) caused slowing and interruption of cardiac impulse propagation. Target fibrosis was the main mediator of the ablation effect. In irradiated tissue, apoptosis was present after 3, but not 6 months. Our study shows feasibility to use high-energy ion beams for creation of cardiac lesions that chronically interrupt cardiac conduction.
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Lehmann et al. (2016) studied Cardiac Arrhythmia (n=17). High-energy carbon ion beams vs. Sham-procedure was evaluated on Chronic interruption of cardiac impulse propagation. High-energy carbon ion beams at doses of 40 to 55 Gy successfully created cardiac lesions that chronically interrupted cardiac conduction in an intact porcine model.
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