Electromechanical Mapping to Evaluate Heart Muscle
Status:
Completed
Trial end date:
2001-12-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
Patients with narrowed heart arteries who undergo coronary angiography (imaging of the
heart's blood vessels) may participate in this "heart mapping" study designed to gain
information about the condition of different areas of the heart muscle.
In coronary angiography, a thin tube called a catheter is inserted through a small incision
in the groin and pushed up to the heart. There, a contrast dye is injected, revealing areas
of blockage in the coronary arteries-the vessels that supply blood to the heart muscle. As
soon as the angiography is completed, patients in this study will undergo another procedure
called "Biosense mapping." For this procedure, a special catheter with a tiny sensor at the
tip will be inserted into the sheath that was used for the angiography and advanced to the
heart's main pumping chamber-the left ventricle. The sensor detects the pattern of an
electromagnetic field generated from a pad under the patient, and an image of the precise
location of the catheter in 3-dimensional space can be seen on a computer screen. The
catheter is then navigated to various precise locations in the ventricle, producing an
electromechanical map that distinguishes scarred muscle tissue from healthy
tissue-information that can be important in guiding treatment.
When this mapping is completed, the patient will be given a drug called dobutamine to
increase the heartbeat, and the mapping will be repeated. The heart may also be mapped while
the heart rate is increased with a pacing catheter to simulate exercise. The test will be
stopped if adverse side effects develop.
Patients in the study will also have magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and PET (positron
emission tomography) scans to get additional information about the heart muscle, such as
blood flow and metabolism rate.