Management of massive hemopericardium in the electrophysiology laboratory: The double long sheath technique.

AIM: To describe a simple and useful technique for acute management of massive hemopericardium inside the Electrophysiology (EP) laboratory METHODS AND RESULTS: Five patients from a single center experience were identified, all with blood loss above 1000 ml after initial pericardiocenthesis. Using two long 8.5 F transseptal sheaths inside the pericardium space, with continuous negative pressure, allowed the complete cessation of bleeding or hemodynamic maintenance until definitive surgical repair in all patients CONCLUSION: The use of two long sheaths for blood drainage, instead of conventional pericardiocenthesis, might be helpful to manage massive hemopericardium inside EP lab, avoiding urgent cardiac surgery or maintaining clinical stability until surgical staff is available.

Bipolar radiofrequency ablation of septal ventricular tachycardia in a patient with dilated cardiomyopathy using two 8-mm tip catheters-case report.

Septal ventricular tachycardias exhibit high recurrence rates after radiofrequency ablation, which is mainly attributed to the deep intramyocardial circuits and the inability to create transmural lesions with the conventional unipolar ablation. Bipolar radiofrequency ablation is feasible and it has been reported as a valid technique in these cases, leading to deeper lesion formation, high non-inducibility rates, and acceptable recurrence rates during follow-up. Our goal is to report a successful case of bipolar ablation of a septal ventricular tachycardia using a simple bipolar ablation configuration with two 8-mm tip catheters.