1. Fatal cerebral air embolism from atrio-oesophageal fistula following cardiac ablation.
- Author
-
Yann Shern Keh, Ryan, du Plessis, Daniel, Potter, Gillian M., Kobylecki, Christopher, and Cooper, Paul
- Subjects
- *
GASTROINTESTINAL hemorrhage , *CEREBRAL embolism & thrombosis , *DEATH , *HEADACHE , *BRAIN , *SUPRAVENTRICULAR tachycardia , *ESOPHAGEAL fistula , *CATHETER ablation , *GAS embolism - Abstract
A young woman with Rogers syndrome (thiamine-responsive megaloblastic anaemia, diabetes mellitus and sensorineural deafness) presented with headache, recurrent supraventricular tachycardia and features of an upper gastrointestinal bleed, 1 month after radiofrequency cardiac ablation for supraventricular tachycardia. She deteriorated rapidly after endoscopy and subsequently died. Brain imaging during the acute deterioration showed diffuse intracranial air embolism and hypoxic-ischaemic injury. Postmortem examination showed an atrio-oesophageal fistula, a rare complication of cardiac ablation. Clinicians should suspect this condition in patients with acute neurological deterioration after cardiac ablation who have diffuse air embolism on imaging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
- Full Text
- View/download PDF