Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39436462›Full record

ArticleJournal of interventional cardiac electrophysiology : an international journal of arrhythmias and pacing2025

Surveillance of esophageal injury after atrial fibrillation catheter ablation.

Alberto Pereira Ferraz, Cristiano Faria Pisani, Esteban Wisnivesky Rocca Rivarola, Tan Chen Wu, Francisco Carlos da Costa Darrieux, Rafael Alvarenga Scanavacca, Carina Abigail Hardy, Muhieddine Omar Chokr, Denise Tessariol Hachul, Maurício Ibrahim Scanavacca

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Article in Journal of interventional cardiac electrophysiology : an international journal of arrhythmias and pacing, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. A predictive model for esophageal thermal injury following atrial fibrillation ablation : Risk tool for esophageal thermal injury.Journal of interventional cardiac electrophysiology : an international journal of arrhythmias and pacing · 2026
    Article
  3. Brazilian Atrial Fibrillation Guidelines - 2025.Arquivos brasileiros de cardiologia · 2025
    Article
  4. Review
  5. Review
  6. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Alberto Pereira FerrazUniversity of São Paulo Medical School, Dr. Enéas de Carvalho Aguiar, 44, São Paulo, Brazil. albertopferraz@gmail.com.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9275-7673
Cristiano Faria PisaniUniversity of São Paulo Medical School, Dr. Enéas de Carvalho Aguiar, 44, São Paulo, Brazil.
Esteban Wisnivesky Rocca RivarolaUniversity of São Paulo Medical School, Dr. Enéas de Carvalho Aguiar, 44, São Paulo, Brazil.
Tan Chen WuUniversity of São Paulo Medical School, Dr. Enéas de Carvalho Aguiar, 44, São Paulo, Brazil.
Francisco Carlos da Costa DarrieuxUniversity of São Paulo Medical School, Dr. Enéas de Carvalho Aguiar, 44, São Paulo, Brazil.
Rafael Alvarenga ScanavaccaUniversity of São Paulo Medical School, Dr. Enéas de Carvalho Aguiar, 44, São Paulo, Brazil.
Carina Abigail HardyUniversity of São Paulo Medical School, Dr. Enéas de Carvalho Aguiar, 44, São Paulo, Brazil.
Muhieddine Omar ChokrUniversity of São Paulo Medical School, Dr. Enéas de Carvalho Aguiar, 44, São Paulo, Brazil.
Denise Tessariol HachulUniversity of São Paulo Medical School, Dr. Enéas de Carvalho Aguiar, 44, São Paulo, Brazil.
Maurício Ibrahim ScanavaccaUniversity of São Paulo Medical School, Dr. Enéas de Carvalho Aguiar, 44, São Paulo, Brazil.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

aimsAtrial-esophageal fistula following ablation procedures for atrial fibrillation (AF) remains a major concern. There is no standardized approach to minimize the risk and morbidity of this serious complication. The objective of this study was to present the 7-year experience of systematic endoscopic surveillance of esophageal injury after AF catheter ablation.

methodsThis was a retrospective single-center registry of systematic endoscopic evaluations after consecutive AF ablation procedures performed from 2016 to 2022.

resultsA total of 677 AF ablation procedures with controlled esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) were analyzed during that period. Most patients were male (71%) with paroxysmal AF (71%). Radiofrequency with electroanatomical mapping was the main ablation approach for 633 patients (93.5%). Esophageal temperature monitoring was performed using a single sensor in 220 patients (34.3%) and a multisensor probe in 296 patients (46%). Most of the patients presented no esophageal lesions (75,7%). Severe lesions (Kansas-city-classification KCC 2B) were found in 46 (6.8%) of them, requiring a new EGD in 7 days. KCC2B lesions were persistent in 3 patients, 2 of whom had ulcers during healing and 1 patient with a deep ulcer of 10 mm who was admitted to the hospital and underwent fasting and parenteral nutrition. The ulcer healed in the second week after the procedure. Both esophageal temperature monitoring strategies were equivalent at preventing thermal lesions. Additionally, a greater left atrium (LA) was associated with a lower incidence of esophageal ulcer (P = 0.028). Most of the lesions spontaneously healed.

conclusionThe incidence of esophageal injury after ablation was 24.3%. Most (72%) were mild lesions that required no therapeutic intervention. A larger left atrium (LA) was correlated with a lower incidence of thermal lesions. Early endoscopy can help diagnose severe esophageal lesions and may provide additional information for the surveillance of esophageal injury after AF ablation.

Indexed as

Atrial FibrillationCatheter AblationEsophageal FistulaEsophagusPostoperative ComplicationsAgedEndoscopy, Digestive SystemFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedRegistriesRetrospective StudiesAtrial-esophageal fistulaAtrial fibrillation ablationEndoscopyScreening

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.