Abstract
Although atrioesophageal fistula (AEF) formation is a well known, albeit rare, catastrophic complication of atrial fibrillation radiofrequency ablation procedures, there are less data regarding this complication using the cryoballoon technique. We report on 3 cases of AEF as a complication of cryoballoon pulmonary vein isolation at 3 different institutions with 2 different generations of cryoballoons.
Keywords:
atrioesophageal fistula; cryoablation; cryoballoon; paroxysmal atrial fibrillation; pulmonary vein isolation.
© 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
MeSH terms
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Aged
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Atrial Fibrillation / diagnosis
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Atrial Fibrillation / physiopathology
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Atrial Fibrillation / surgery*
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Cardiac Catheters
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Catheter Ablation / adverse effects*
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Catheter Ablation / instrumentation
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Catheter Ablation / methods
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Cryosurgery / adverse effects*
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Cryosurgery / instrumentation
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Echocardiography, Transesophageal
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Equipment Design
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Esophageal Fistula / diagnosis
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Esophageal Fistula / etiology*
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Esophageal Fistula / surgery
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Fatal Outcome
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Female
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Fistula / diagnosis
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Fistula / etiology*
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Fistula / surgery
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Heart Diseases / diagnosis
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Heart Diseases / etiology*
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Heart Diseases / surgery
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Humans
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Male
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Middle Aged
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Pulmonary Veins / physiopathology
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Pulmonary Veins / surgery*