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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Thorac Cardiovasc Surg Rep 2022; 11(01): e27-e29
DOI: 10.1055/s-0041-1736209
Case Report: Cardiac

Pericardial–Esophageal Fistula: A Rare but Increasing Complication of Cardiac Ablation

Erik A. Sylvin
1   Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, JFK Medical Center, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Atlantis, Florida, United States
,
Arminder S. Jassar
2   Division of Cardiac Surgery, Department of Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, United States
,
John C. Kucharczuk
3   Division of Thoracic Surgery, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
,
Prashanth Vallabhajosyula
4   Section of Cardiac Surgery, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, United States
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Abstract

Pericardial–esophageal fistula and/or atrial–esophageal fistula after cardiac ablation is nearly universally fatal if not detected and treated expeditiously. This condition should be assumed and ruled out in anyone with a recent history of cardiac ablation presenting with signs of sepsis, pneumomediastinum, pneumopericardium, or chest pain. Computed tomography scan of the chest is a rapid and a sensitive diagnostic modality. Tenets of treatment and repair consist of preventing an air embolism, repairing the esophageal perforation and atrial defect, and interposing autologous tissue between the esophagus and heart.

Keywords

surgical ablation - esophageal - pericardium - cardiopulmonary bypass - CPB


Publication History

Received: 01 April 2021

Accepted: 16 June 2021

Article published online:
07 March 2022

© 2022. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

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