Abstract

Atrio-esophageal fistula are rare but lethal. In contrast, mostly asymptomatic esophageal lesions are frequent following PVI, and therefore, more suitable to investigate prevention tools for fistula. LET maximum values have not been shown to prevent esophageal injury. Nonetheless, at the moment LET is the only available parameter indicating esophageal impairment during the procedure. In 63 patients (51 with moderate-power and 12 with high-power RF-protocols), we analyzed the temperature curves in much more detail and calculated additional parameters. To better understand the relevance of those additional temperature parameters and their relation to esophageal injury, we extended our pre- and postprocedural workup (much beyond clinical routine), and for the purpose of this study, all patients were examined by esophagogastroscopy before and after PVI. The postinterventional endoscopy was expanded by endoscopic ultrasound in 42/63 patients.