Dr. Luca Gerardo-Giorda

Johannes Kepler Universtät Linz, Austria.

Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is a common procedure in cardiac catheterization for the treatment of arrhythmias. Although globally a pretty safe procedure, it may present some risk. Thrombus formation can occur during RFA at the electrode-tissue interface when the temperature exceeds 80°C. Steam pops are caused by tissue overheating at 100°C, and may trigger explosive ruptures of myocardium. If the steam pop occurs sufficiently deep in the tissue, or if the RFA procedure is performed on atria, whose walls are thinner than the ones of the ventricles, such explosive rupture may result in a perforation of the cardiac chamber wall, and in dramatic hemorrhagic events. We will discuss the role of advanced computational modelling in designing safer and more ecient ablation strategies to be applied in the clinical environment, and present the strategy we developed in collaboration with the hospital de la Santa Creu i San Pau in Barcelona.