• Nabil Elkassabany, Fermin Garcia, Cory Tschabrunn, Jesse Raiten, William Gao, Khan Chaichana, Sanjay Dixit, Rebecca M Speck, Erica Zado, Francis Marchlinski, and Jeff Mandel.
• Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. nabil.elkassabany@uphs.upenn.edu
• J. Cardiothorac. Vasc. Anesth.. 2012 Jun 1;26(3):433-8.

ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to describe anesthetic management and perioperative complications in patients undergoing pulmonary vein isolation for the treatment of atrial fibrillation under general anesthesia using high-frequency jet ventilation. The authors also identified variables associated with longer ablation times in this patient cohort.DesignA retrospective observational study.SettingThe electrophysiology laboratory in a major university hospital.ParticipantsOne hundred eighty-eight consecutive patients undergoing pulmonary vein isolation under general anesthesia with high-frequency jet ventilation.InterventionsHigh-frequency jet ventilation was used as the primary mode of ventilation under general anesthesia.Measurements And Main ResultsHigh-frequency jet ventilation was performed successfully throughout the ablation procedure in 175 cases of the study cohort. The remaining 13 patients had to be converted to conventional positive-pressure ventilation because of high PaCO(2) or low PaO(2) on arterial blood gas measurements. Variables associated with a shorter ablation time included a higher ejection fraction (p = 0.04) and case volume performed by each electrophysiologist in the study group (p = 0.001).ConclusionsHigh-frequency jet ventilation is generally a safe technique that can be used in catheter ablation treatment under general anesthesia.Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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