PO-02-074 A META-ANALYSIS TO EVALUATE THE EFFICACY OF ESOPHAGEAL COOLING IN PREVENTING ESOPHAGEAL INJURY DURING RADIOFREQUENCY ABLATION

Is Cryo a Better Energy Source Than Radiofrequency for AF Ablation in Preventing Esophageal Injury?

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is by far the most common tachyarrhythmia in humans. Prevalence of this rhythm disorder is 0.3-0.4% of the adult population and increases with age from 2-4% in people over the age of 60 to 11.6 % in those over the age of 75.1 In recent years, an increasing number of patients are subjected to catheter ablation in an effort to cure AF. It has been shown that a successful ...

Esophageal Temperature Monitoring During Radiofrequency Ablation of Atrial Fibrillation: A Meta-Analysis.

Objective: Atrio-esophageal fistula is an infrequent but devastating complication of catheter-based ablation of atrial fibrillation (AF). Thermal esophageal injury may be the precursor of atrio-esophageal fistula. Here, we evaluated the role of esophageal temperature monitoring in preventing thermal esophageal injury during pulmonary vein isolation for AF with radiofrequency energy. Methods: In...

Esophageal injury following radiofrequency ablation for atrial fibrillation: injury classification.

Severe esophageal injury after radiofrequency ablation - a deadly complication

Various degrees of esophageal injury have been described after radiofrequency ablation performed for treatment of atrial fibrillation. The main mechanism of injury is thermal and may lead to a range of esophageal mucosal changes, some clinically insignificant, however when deep ulceration occurs, this may be further complicated by perforation and mediastinitis, a rare but life threatening seque...

Limitations of esophageal temperature-monitoring to prevent esophageal injury during atrial fibrillation ablation.

A number of complications have been associated with ablation of atrial fibrillation (AF), including arterial thrombo-embolism, pulmonary vein stenosis, phrenic nerve injury, and pericardial tamponade.1–4 Esophageal injury, manifested as esophageal perforation or left atrial-esophageal fistula, has been reported after catheter or surgical ablation of AF using radiofrequency (RF) current5–8 and c...