Characterization of Aortic Valve Closure Artifact during Outflow Tract Mapping: Correlation with Hemodynamics and Mechanical Valves

Background - Premature ventricular contractions originating in the left ventricle outflow tract represent a significant subgroup of patients referred for catheter ablation. Mechanical artifacts from aortic valve leaflet motion may be observed during mapping, although the incidence and characteristics have not been reported. Methods and Results - Twenty-eight consecutive patients with left ventricle outflow tract premature ventricular contraction were included. Electric signals recorded on the ablation catheter not coincident with atrial or ventricular depolarization were analyzed on the recording system. Correlation with invasive hemodynamic aortic pressure tracings was performed. Additionally, 4 patients with mechanical aortic valves, who underwent scar-related ventricular tachycardia ablation, were analyzed to correlate the timing of the observed artifacts with native aortic valves. Aortic valve artifact was observed while mapping within the coronary cusps in 11 patients (39%; 73% men; age, 41±25 years; left ventricular ejection fraction 49±16%) with high incidence from the left coronary cusp. This artifact was consistently observed with timing coincident with the terminal portion of the T wave. The average interval between the end of the T wave and the aortic valve artifact was 19±37 ms. The duration of the aortic valve artifact was 39±8 ms with amplitude of 0.12±0.07 mV (range, 0.06-0.36 mV). Conclusions - In patients referred for left ventricle outflow tract premature ventricular contraction ablation, an aortic valve closure artifact is observed in up to one third of cases during mapping within the aortic cusps. The timing of this artifact correlates with invasive hemodynamics and mechanical aortic valve artifacts. Recognition of this physiological phenomenon is useful when assigning near-field activation.