A retrospective observational study.
The electrophysiology laboratory in a major university hospital.
One hundred eighty-eight consecutive patients undergoing pulmonary vein isolation under general anesthesia with high-frequency jet ventilation.
High-frequency jet ventilation was used as the primary mode of ventilation under general anesthesia.
High-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 PaCO2 or low PaO2 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).
High-frequency jet ventilation is generally a safe technique that can be used in catheter ablation treatment under general anesthesia.