Four typical pulmonary venous pressure curves displaying the level of occlusion during atrial fibrillation ablation by cryoballoon

BACKGROUND: Cryoballoon ablation is safe and effective for pulmonary vein isolation in patients with symptomatic drug-refractory paroxysmal atrial fibrillation. To monitor adhesion between the balloon and the pulmonary vein, an alternative technique to pulmonary venography is to analyze changes in the pressure curve. METHODS: We have described the adhesion level characterized by four types of pressure waveforms. RESULTS: These correlated with the extent of contrast agent leakage (Cohen's kappa of 0.81 [IC 95%: 0.63-0.99]). CONCLUSION: Monitoring the venous pressure curve is easy to perform and has the advantage of being able to detect balloon movement during the first few seconds of treatment.