Surgical repair of an esophageal perforation after radiofrequency catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation

Patrick Badertscher; Tarik Delko; Daniel Oertli; Oliver Reuthebuch; Ulrich Schurr; Maurice Pradella; Michael Kühne; Christian Sticherling; Stefan Osswald

doi:10.1016/j.ipej.2019.01.004

Surgical repair of an esophageal perforation after radiofrequency catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation

Indian Pacing Electrophysiol J. 2019 May-Jun;19(3):110-113. doi: 10.1016/j.ipej.2019.01.004. Epub 2019 Jan 24.

Authors

Patrick Badertscher¹, Tarik Delko², Daniel Oertli², Oliver Reuthebuch³, Ulrich Schurr³, Maurice Pradella⁴, Michael Kühne³, Christian Sticherling³, Stefan Osswald⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Cardiology and of Cardiac Surgery, University Hospital Basel, University of Basel, Switzerland; Department of Cardiology, University of Illinois at Chicago, USA.
² Department of General and Visceral Surgery, University Hospital Basel, University of Basel, Switzerland.
³ Department of Cardiology and of Cardiac Surgery, University Hospital Basel, University of Basel, Switzerland.
⁴ Department of Radiology, University Hospital Basel, University of Basel, Switzerland.
⁵ Department of Cardiology and of Cardiac Surgery, University Hospital Basel, University of Basel, Switzerland. Electronic address: stefan.osswald@usb.ch.

Abstract

Recent reports have described the incidence of atrioesophageal fistulas (AEF), often resulting in death, from radiofrequency (RF) catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation (AF).¹ Cases of esophageal perforation without concomitant AEF have not been described as extensively.¹ The precise mechanisms leading to esophageal injury after catheter ablation without involvement of the left atrium are not fully understood. The surgical approach to treat esophageal perforation is strongly recommended.² However, a unified surgical treatment approach has not yet been established. We describe a case of successful surgical repair of an esophageal perforation after ablation using surgical repair in combination with an omental wrap.

Keywords: Atrial fibrillation; Radiofrequency catheter ablation; Surgery.