ArticleCardiovascular ultrasound2023
Feasibility and safety of reprocessing of intracardiac echocardiography catheters for electrophysiology procedures - a large single center experience.
Article in Cardiovascular ultrasound, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 12 citations in OpenAlex.
- Intracardiac Echocardiography during Invasive Electrophysiological Procedures: a Scientific Statement of the European Heart Rhythm Association of the ESC, and the European Association of Percutaneous Cardiovascular Interventions of the ESC.Europace : European pacing, arrhythmias, and cardiac electrophysiology : journal of the working groups on cardiac pacing, arrhythmias, and cardiac cellular electrophysiology of the European Society of Cardiology · 2026Guideline
- Safety and efficacy of intracardiac echocardiography in atrial fibrillation ablation: a meta-analysis.Europace : European pacing, arrhythmias, and cardiac electrophysiology : journal of the working groups on cardiac pacing, arrhythmias, and cardiac cellular electrophysiology of the European Society of Cardiology · 2026Pooled it
- Reprocessing of single-use medical devices in cardiology: a systematic literature review of safety and performance characteristics applied to cardiac electrophysiology.Europace : European pacing, arrhythmias, and cardiac electrophysiology : journal of the working groups on cardiac pacing, arrhythmias, and cardiac cellular electrophysiology of the European Society of Cardiology · 2026Pooled it
- Completely Fluoroless, "Apron-Less" Approach to Supraventricular Tachycardia Ablation Compared to Traditional Fluoroscopy Guided Ablation: Feasibility, Safety and Clinical Outcomes.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
- Feasibility and safety of zero-fluoro, "apron-less" approach to repeat pulmonary vein isolation procedures using radiofrequency energy after initial cryoballoon ablation.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Comparison of Conventionally Performed and Intracardiac Echocardiography Guided Catheter Ablation of Atrioventricular Node in Patients with Permanent Atrial Fibrillation-A Retrospective Single-Center Study.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Article
- Intracardiac Echocardiography: An Invaluable Tool in Electrophysiological Interventions for Atrial Fibrillation and Supraventricular Tachycardia.Reviews in cardiovascular medicine · 2024Review
- The Fluoroless Future in Electrophysiology: A State-of-the-Art Review.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- First-in-human cases and preclinical experience of a novel ICE catheter.Frontiers in cardiovascular medicine · 2024Article
- Beyond Echocardiography: The Evolving Role of Imaging in Left Atrial Appendage Closure in the Modern Era.Journal of cardiovascular echographyReview
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
12 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeIntra-cardiac echocardiography (ICE) has become an important tool for catheter ablation. Adoption of ICE imaging is still limited because of its prohibitively high cost. Our aim was to study the safety and feasibility of ICE catheters reprocessing and its environmental and financial impact.
methodsThis was a single center retrospective analysis of all consecutive electrophysiology procedures in which ICE catheters were used from 2015 to 2022. In total, 1128 patients were studied (70.6% male, mean age was 57.9 ± 13.2 years). The majority of procedures were related to atrial fibrillation ablation (84.6%).
resultsFor the whole cohort, 57 new ICE catheters were used. Consequently one catheter could be used for 19.8 procedures. New catheters were only used when the image obtained by reused probes was not satisfactory. There were no cases of ICE probe steering mechanism malfunction, no procedure related infections and no allergic reactions that could be attributed to the resterilization process. In total, there was 8.6% of complications not related to ICE imaging. Financially, ICE probe reprocessing resulted with 90% cost reduction (> 2 millions of Euros savings for the studied period) and 95% waste reduction (639.5 kg less, mostly non degradable waste was produced).
conclusionOur data suggests that ICE catheter reprocessing is feasible and safe. It seems that risk of infection is not increased. Significant economic and environmental savings could be achieved by ICE catheters reprocessing. Furthermore, ICE reprocessing could allow more extensive ICE usage resulting in safer procedures with a potential reduction of serious complications.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.