| abstract |
A cardiac ablation apparatus for producing a circumferential ablation that electrically isolates a heart chamber wall portion from vessel such as a pulmonary vein extending into said wall portion comprises (a) an elongate centering catheter (60) having a distal end portion; (b) an expandable centering element (62) connected to said centering catheter distal end portion and configured for positioning within said vessel when in a retracted configuration, and for securing said elongate centering catheter in a substantially axially aligned position with respect to said vessel when said centering element is in an expanded configuration; (c) an ablation catheter (51) slidably connected to said centering catheter said ablation element having a distal end portion, and (d) an expandable ablation element (53) connected to said ablation catheter distal end portion. The ablation element is configured to form a circumferential ablation on the wall around the elongate centering catheter when the centering catheter is axially aligned with respect to the vessel. In a further embodiment, a non-expandable, compliant centering element is employed, such as an elastic finger. Systems incorporating such an apparatus and methods of use thereof are also disclosed. |