Recently, the Department of Cardiology at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University successfully applied intracardiac echocardiography (ICE) for the first time, achieving zero X-ray exposure throughout arrhythmia intervention surgeries. This advancement offers safer treatment options for special patients such as pregnant women and children.
The patient in question was 22 weeks pregnant and frequently experienced supraventricular tachycardia with a heart rate as high as 176 beats per minute. The cardiac load during the subsequent pregnancy could lead to severe heart failure. Traditional radiofrequency ablation surgery relies on X-rays, which might affect fetal development. Professor LING Zhiyu's team from the hospital used ICE technology to insert an ultrasound probe less than 3 millimeters in size into the heart via a blood vessel, precisely locating the lesion and completing the ablation without using X-rays.
In traditional cardiac interventional surgery, catheter positions are indirectly judged through X-ray images. However, ICE technology can display real-time structures within the heart chambers and blood flow conditions, while also monitoring complications, akin to a "cardiac spotlight." Combined with a three-dimensional mapping system, this technology achieves "a 3D map + real-scene navigation," enhancing surgical accuracy.
Since the launch of zero-radiation surgery in 2019, the Second Affiliated Hospital has been continuously promoting technological innovation. In 2022, the deep integration of ICE and the 3D mapping system freed atrial fibrillation and other complex arrhythmia surgeries from radiation dependency. Currently, as the Chongqing Arrhythmia Intervention Quality Control Centre, the hospital is driving the dissemination of these technologies to grassroots hospitals.
(Translated by AI)
