Does pulsed field ablation for pulmonary vein and posterior wall isolation cause esophageal thermal injury in patients with atrial fibrillation?
Pulsed field ablation for pulmonary vein and posterior wall isolation appears safe for the esophagus, with no thermal injury observed on post-procedural endoscopy.
In this real-world cohort, PFA-guided LAPWI was safe for the esophagus, with no thermal injury observed in post-procedural endoscopy. These results further support PFA as a promising technology for AF ablation with a favourable esophageal safety profile. The role of post-ablation proton pump inhibitors in a population where incidental gastrointestinal findings were common needs further exploration.
Gunawardene et al. (2025) studied this question.