Deviating the Esophagus in Atrial Fibrillation Ablation

Catheter ablation is a commonly performed strategy employed for the treatment of atrial fibrillation. However ablation in the posterior wall of the left atrium can cause thermal injury to the esophagus. When significant thermal injury to the esophagus occurs, two significant complications can occur: 1) the formation of an atrio-esophageal fistula, and 2) gastrointestinal dysmotility. While the former is rate, it is an important complication since it can be fatal. The frequency of the latter complication is less well appreciated, but probably occurs in the range of 1:100 to 1:500. Currently luminal esophageal temperature monitoring is the most commonly employed modality to prevent such injury. However, there are limitations to its use, and atrio-esophageal fistulas have been reported even when using esophageal temperature monitoring. Esophageal deviation using either a TEE or EGD probe has been described in the literature, but the effectiveness and practicality of these techniques are suboptimal, and have therefore precluded their use in routine clinical practice. Recently, we have demonstrated that esophageal deviation is indeed possible using off-the-shelf equipment (a soft thoracic tube and endotracheal stylet) in patients undergoing AF ablation. In this randomized double-blind study, we will compare standard practice (i.e., use of luminal esophageal temperature monitoring) to esophageal deviation during AF ablation. We hypothesize that the strategy of esophageal deviation will result in safer ablation strategy with a reduction in the incidence of esophageal injury as assessed by endoscopy.