Anatomic and electrophysiologic relation between the coronary sinus and mitral annulus: implications for ablation of left-sided accessory pathways.

To determine whether precise left-sided accessory pathway localization is possible from the coronary sinus, electrocardiogram (ECG) characteristics from the coronary sinus pair demonstrating earliest activation via the accessory pathway were compared to simultaneous mitral annular ablation catheter ECGs at successful ablation sites in 48 patients. To define the coronary sinus-mitral annular relation, the coronary sinus to mitral annulus distance (D) was measured at sequential distances from the coronary sinus os in 10 cadaver hearts. Mitral annular ECGs demonstrated earliest activation via the accessory pathway more frequently than the earliest coronary sinus pair (p < 0.001), more frequent continuous electrical activity (p < 0.001), and more frequent accessory pathway potentials (p < 0.01). D was >10 mm at 20, 40, and 60 mm, respectively, from the coronary sinus os. Coronary sinus ECGs do not precisely localize left-sided accessory pathways, which may be due in part to an average anatomic separation of more than 10 mm between the coronary sinus and accessory pathways bridging the mitral annulus.