Surgical intervention is necessary and can be successful for treating lethal atrioesophageal fistulas complicating atrial fibrillation ablation.
Supports surgical repair for post-ablation atrioesophageal fistula; leaves open optimal strategies pending larger studies.
Catheter ablation (CA) is an effective and safe technique to treat atrial fibrillation; however, it can cause rare but lethal complications.1 Atrioesophageal fistula (AEF) caused by diffusion of the ablative energy through the left atrial wall to the esophagus (because of the absence of pericardium) is lethal if not treated surgically.
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Cazavet et al. (2010) studied this question.
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