Visualization of pulmonary vein–left atrium lesions using delayed-enhancement magnetic resonance imaging after cryothermal balloon catheter ablation: A case report

Introduction Electrical pulmonary vein (PV) isolation is an effective technique that is used to treat patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (AF). In recent years, PV isolation by cryothermal balloon (CB) ablation has been increasingly adopted by electrophysiology laboratories around the world. This technology is associated with more reproducible results and reduced procedural times and may be less influenced by operator dexterity than the traditional pointby-point approach with radiofrequency catheter ablation. Although it may offer the invaluable advantage of achieving PV isolation with a single application, little is known about the extension of the PV–left atrium (LA) lesion after the procedure in clinical practice. Although delayedenhancement magnetic resonance imaging (DE-MRI) has been reported as a noninvasive tool for visualizing lesions after radiofrequency or CB ablation, the relationship between the CB ablation procedure and lesions on DE-MRI results has not yet been assessed in detail.