Transverse shifting of the esophagus according to the patient's position helped achieve a safe and successful pulmonary vein isolation procedure.
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.
Ejima
Koichiro
K
Department of Cardiology, Tokyo Women's Medical University, 8-1 Kawada-cho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 162-8666, Japan.
Shoda
Morio
M
Futagawa
Keisuke
K
Kimura
Ryusuke
R
Manaka
Tetsuyuki
T
Hagiwara
Nobuhisa
N
Kasanuki
Hiroshi
H
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