{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,17]],"date-time":"2026-08-17T08:47:47Z","timestamp":1786956467226,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":13,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,23]],"date-time":"2026-01-23T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1769126400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JCDD"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Catheter ablation is a validated treatment for ventricular arrhythmias (VA), but conventional radiofrequency (RF) energy may cause collateral injury due to non-selective thermal damage. Pulsed Field Ablation (PFA), a non-thermal modality based on irreversible electroporation, offers myocardial tissue selectivity and enhanced safety. While PFA is widely adopted for atrial arrhythmias\u2019 ablation, its application in the ventricles remains an evolving frontier. Methods: We report a single-center experience using the Centauri PFA system integrated with a focal, contact-force sensing irrigated catheter (Tacticath\u2122 SE, Abbott Laboratories, St. Paul, MN, USA) in four consecutive patients with drug-refractory VA. Two patients presented with frequent premature ventricular complexes (PVC) arising from the right and left ventricular outflow tract, respectively, while two had ischemic cardiomyopathy with recurrent scar-related ventricular tachycardia (VT). All procedures were guided by high-density mapping using the EnSite X system (Abbott Laboratories, St. Paul, MN, USA). Procedural safety, acute efficacy, and early follow-up outcomes were assessed. Results: All ablations achieved acute procedural success without complications. In both PVC cases, PFA led to immediate and complete suppression of ectopy, with a \u226595% reduction in arrhythmic burden at 12- and 9-months follow-up, respectively. In the VT cases, the arrhythmogenic substrate was effectively modified, rendering the clinical VT non-inducible. ICD interrogation during a 9-month follow-up showed complete absence of recurrent sustained VT. No coronary spasm, atrioventricular block, pericardial effusion, or other adverse events occurred. Conclusions: In this initial experience, focal PFA using a contact-force sensing catheter appeared feasible and effective for both focal and scar-related VA. This system provides an intuitive workflow similar to RF ablation. While our data suggest a favourable safety profile, larger studies are required to definitively confirm safety margins near critical structures.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jcdd13020059","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,26]],"date-time":"2026-01-26T12:41:16Z","timestamp":1769431276000},"page":"59","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Pulsed Field Ablation for the Treatment of Ventricular Arrhythmias Using a Focal, Contact-Force Sensing Catheter: A Single-Center Case Series and Review"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8774-2127","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Cristian","family":"Martignani","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Cardiology, IRCCS Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria di Bologna, Via Massarenti 9, 40138 Bologna, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1227-5787","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Giulia","family":"Massaro","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, Institute of Cardiology, University of Bologna, Via Massarenti 9, 40138 Bologna, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8452-7405","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Alberto","family":"Spadotto","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, Institute of Cardiology, University of Bologna, Via Massarenti 9, 40138 Bologna, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5518-6226","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Maria","family":"Carelli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Cardiology, IRCCS Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria di Bologna, Via Massarenti 9, 40138 Bologna, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lorenzo","family":"Bartoli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, Institute of Cardiology, University of Bologna, Via Massarenti 9, 40138 Bologna, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Alessandro","family":"Carecci","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, Institute of Cardiology, University of Bologna, Via Massarenti 9, 40138 Bologna, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Andrea","family":"Angeletti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Cardiology, IRCCS Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria di Bologna, Via Massarenti 9, 40138 Bologna, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Matteo","family":"Ziacchi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Cardiology, IRCCS Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria di Bologna, Via Massarenti 9, 40138 Bologna, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4590-8584","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mauro","family":"Biffi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Cardiology, IRCCS Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria di Bologna, Via Massarenti 9, 40138 Bologna, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5285-7140","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Matteo","family":"Bertini","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Cardiology Unit, Department of Translational Medicine, Sant\u2019Anna University Hospital, University of Ferrara, 44124 Ferrara, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,23]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"205","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ccep.2025.02.008","article-title":"Pulsed Field Ablation in Ventricular Arrhythmias","volume":"17","author":"Kautzner","year":"2025","journal-title":"Card. Electrophysiol. Clin."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e012814","DOI":"10.1161\/CIRCEP.124.012814","article-title":"Evaluation of Ablation Parameters to Predict Irreversible Lesion Size During Pulsed Field Ablation","volume":"17","author":"Nakagawa","year":"2024","journal-title":"Circ. Arrhythm. Electrophysiol."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e014006","DOI":"10.1161\/CIRCEP.125.014006","article-title":"Modified Unipolar Return Pulsed Field Ablation in Ventricular Myocardium","volume":"18","author":"Terricabras","year":"2025","journal-title":"Circ. Arrhythm. Electrophysiol."},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e012734","DOI":"10.1161\/CIRCEP.124.012734","article-title":"Preclinical Study of Pulsed Field Ablation of Difficult Ventricular Targets: Intracavitary Mobile Structures, Interventricular Septum, and Left Ventricular Free Wall","volume":"17","author":"Nies","year":"2024","journal-title":"Circ. Arrhythm. Electrophysiol."},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Yavin, H., Prasad, M., Gordon, J., Aksu, T., and Huang, H.D. (2024). Contemporary Trends in Pulsed Field Ablation for Cardiac Arrhythmias. J. Cardiovasc. Dev. Dis., 12.","DOI":"10.3390\/jcdd12010010"},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1691","DOI":"10.1161\/CIRCULATIONAHA.125.077025","article-title":"High-Voltage Focal Pulsed Field Ablation to Treat Scar-Related Ventricular Tachycardia: The First-in-Human VCAS Trial","volume":"152","author":"Reddy","year":"2025","journal-title":"Circulation"},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"855","DOI":"10.1007\/s10840-023-01705-7","article-title":"Technological advances in ventricular tachycardia catheter ablation: The relentless quest for novel solutions to old problems","volume":"67","author":"Compagnucci","year":"2024","journal-title":"J. Interv. Card. Electrophysiol."},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1503","DOI":"10.1093\/europace\/euac252","article-title":"In vivo pulsed-field ablation in healthy vs. chronically infarcted ventricular myocardium: Biophysical and histologic characterization","volume":"25","author":"Sandhu","year":"2023","journal-title":"Europace"},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Padisak, A., Szegedi, N., Tanai, E., Sallo, Z., Nagy, K.V., Perge, P., Boga, M., Orban, G., Toth, P., and Komlosi, F. (2025). Pulsed field ablation for ventricular arrhythmias with pentaspline catheter. Front. Cardiovasc. Med., 12.","DOI":"10.3389\/fcvm.2025.1631253"},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e1193","DOI":"10.1016\/j.hrthm.2025.06.006","article-title":"Pulsed field ablation with a pentaspline catheter for ventricular arrhythmias: First US series","volume":"22","author":"Younis","year":"2025","journal-title":"Heart Rhythm."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"97","DOI":"10.1016\/j.hrthm.2025.02.014","article-title":"Feasibility and midterm effectiveness of focal pulsed field ablation for ventricular arrhythmias","volume":"23","author":"Ruwald","year":"2025","journal-title":"Heart Rhythm."},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"euae192","DOI":"10.1093\/europace\/euae192","article-title":"Efficacy and safety of focal pulsed-field ablation for ventricular arrhythmias: Two-centre experience","volume":"26","author":"Peichl","year":"2024","journal-title":"Europace"},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"ytaf437","DOI":"10.1093\/ehjcr\/ytaf437","article-title":"Pulsed field ablation as a bailout for ventricular tachycardia ablation: A case report","volume":"9","author":"Verhaeghe","year":"2025","journal-title":"Eur. Heart J. Case Rep."}],"container-title":["Journal of Cardiovascular Development and Disease"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2308-3425\/13\/2\/59\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,26]],"date-time":"2026-01-26T13:13:47Z","timestamp":1769433227000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2308-3425\/13\/2\/59"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,23]]},"references-count":13,"journal-issue":{"issue":"2","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,2]]}},"alternative-id":["jcdd13020059"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/jcdd13020059","relation":{},"ISSN":["2308-3425"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2308-3425","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,23]]}}}