title: Transverse shifting of the esophagus according to the patient's position helped achieve a safe and successful pulmonary vein isolation procedure.
abstract: Although the incidence of causing an atrioesophageal fistula during pulmonary vein isolation is very low, this type of injury results in a very high mortality rate. To prevent this complication, keeping a safe distance from the esophagus to the ablation lesion is a simple but safe method. We report a case in which we were able to shift the position of the esophagus by positioning the patient in a lateral posture in order to keep the esophagus at a safe distance from the pulmonary vein antrum, resulting in performance of a safe and successful pulmonary vein antrum isolation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Tokyo Women's Medical University, 8-1 Kawada-cho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 162-8666, Japan.
authors.forename: Koichiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ejima
authors.forename: Morio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shoda
authors.forename: Keisuke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Futagawa
authors.forename: Ryusuke
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kimura
authors.forename: Tetsuyuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Manaka
authors.forename: Nobuhisa
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hagiwara
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kasanuki
mesh_terms: D001281:Atrial Fibrillation / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery*; D017115:Catheter Ablation / Q000009:adverse effects; D004937:Esophageal Fistula / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D004947:Esophagus / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010690:Phlebography; D011187:Posture; D011667:Pulmonary Veins / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery*; D016896:Treatment Outcome