Author | Number of cases | Gender | Age (years) | Procedure | Post procedure day | Clinical presentation | Imaging | Findings | Diagnostic procedure | Treatment | Outcome |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sonmez et al4 | 1 | Female | 58 | Surgical: LRFA—melo technique | 22 | Fever, shivers, numbness right arm | TTE | LA thrombus | EGD | Thrombectomy, pericardial sutures | Death |
Doll et al5 | 1 | Male | 42 | Surgical: IRAAF | 10 | Fever, postprandial TIA | TTE | Normal | Exploratory thoracotomy | Surgical | Survived |
Doll et al5 | 1 | Female | 62 | Surgical: IRAAF | 6 | Haematemesis | EGD | NA | Pathology | None | Death |
Doll et al5 | 1 | Male | 59 | Surgical: IRAAF | 12 | Fever, neurological symptoms | CT of the chest | Contrast and free air in the mediastinum | Exploratory Thoracotomy | Surgical | Survived |
Doll et al5 | 1 | Male | 36 | Surgical: IRAAF | 11 | Chest pain | CT of the chest | Oesophageal perforation | Exploratory thoracotomy | Surgical | Survived |
Pappone et al6 | 1 | Male | 36 | Percutaneous: CPVA | 3 | Fever, pleuritic chest pain, seizures | CT of the head | Bilateral ischaemia | CT of the chest | Surgical | Survived |
Pappone et al6 | 1 | Male | 21 | Percutaneous: CPVA | 1 | Fever, grand mal seizure | CT of the head | Unremarkable | TEE | Non-surgical | Death |
Scanavacca et al7 | 1 | Male | 72 | Percutaneous: RFA | 22 | Seizures, haematemesis | NA | NA | EGD | None | Death |
Zirlik and Nordt8 | 1 | Male | 66 | Surgical: MVR and Maze procedure | 14 | Collapse | CT of the head | Multiple intracerebral air emboli and infarctions | EGD | Non-surgical | Death |
Bunch et al9 | 1 | Male | 48 | Percutaneous: RFA | 14 | Fever, chest pain, dysphagia | CT of the chest | 3 mm oesophageal perforation at level of atrium | EGD | Non-surgical | Survived |
Schley et al10 | 1 | Male | 37 | Percutaneous: RFA | 25 | Fever, grand mal seizure, status epilepticus | CT of the head | Ischaemic lesions | CT of the chest | Surgical | Survived |
Cummings et al11 | 9 | Male=4 Female=5 | NA | Percutaneous: PRFA | 12.3 (10–16) | Sepsis (n=9), neurological symptoms (n=8); angina (n=2); GI bleed (n=3) | CT of the head | Intravascular air (n=2) | CT of the chest 3/4; autopsy 6/9 | Surgical=3; Non-surgical=6 | Death (n=9) |
Dagres et al12 | 5 | Male=4 Female | 51 (35–76) | Surgical RFA (n=4); Percutaneous RFA (n=1) | 8–28 | Fever (n=3), chest pain (n=2), hemiparesis (n=3), grand mal seizure (n=1), aphasia (n=1) | NA | NA | CT of the chest | Surgery (n=3); attempted surgery (n=2) | Death (n=2) |
Preis et al13 | 1 | Male | 56 | Percutaneous: PVI with RFA | 38 | Malaise, chills, bilateral arm weakness | TEE | No vegetations | CT of the chest | Surgical | Survived |
Malamis et al14 | 1 | Male | 59 | Percutaneous: RFA | 35 | Fever, altered mental status, petechiae | CT of the head | Negative | CT of the chest | Surgical | Death |
D’Avila et al15 | 1 | Male | 56 | Percutaneous: RFA | 28 | Epigastric pain, dysphagia, tactile fever; focal weakness, anomia, acalculia, agraphia | MRI of the brain | Multiple subacute embolic events | CT of the chest | Surgical | Survived |
Borchert et al16 | 1 | Male | 59 | Percutaneous: PVI with HIFU ablation catheter | 10 | Chest discomfort and atypical atrial flutter; VF arrest | MRI of the brain | Cerebral and cerebellar ischaemic lesions | CT of the chest | Surgical | Death |
Ouchikhe et al17 | 1 | Male | 58 | Percutaneous: RFA | 21 | Fever, confusion, meningitis | CT of the head | Bilateral hyperdense lesions (frontal, occipital, parietal and temporal) | TTE | Non-surgical | Death |
Hazell et al18 | 1 | Male | 72 | Percutaneous: PVI roofline mitral isthmus line CFAE ablation | 16 | Weakness, LOC, chest pain | CT of the head | Right parietal subcortical matter ischaemic changes | CT of the chest | Non-surgical | Death |
Vijayaraman et al19 | 1 | Male | 45 | Percutaneous: RFA with 3D reconstruction | 10 | Chest pain, low-grade fever, hypotension | CT of the chest | Fluid and air in pericardium and air in right superior mediastinum | Thoracotomy | Surgical | Survived |
Baker et al20 | 1 | Female | 67 | Surgical: RFA | 20 | Substernal chest pain, nausea, vomiting, confusion, fever, seizures, haematemesis | MRI of the brain | Multiple acute emboli | EGD | Non-surgical | Death |
Cazavet et al21 | 1 | Male | 35 | Percutaneous: RFA | 38 | Fever, chest pain, vomiting, left hemiplegia and seizures | CT of the head | Initially negative | CT of the chest | Surgical | Survived |
Gilcrease et al22 | 1 | Male | 61 | Percutaneous: RFA | 10 | Dysphagia, substernal chest pain, fever | CT of the chest | Ulcer at anterior portion oesophagus adjacent to PV | CT of the chest (after 2 months) | Surgical | Death |
Khandhar et al23 | 1 | Male | 46 | Percutaneous: RFA | 27 | Fever, pericarditis, followed by hemiparesis | CT of the chest | Normal | CT of the chest | Surgical | Survived |
Siegel et al24 | 1 | Male | 41 | Percutaneous: RFA | 30 | Fever, rigours, near syncope; followed by right-sided hemiparesis | MRI of the brain | Multifocal infarcts | CT of the chest | Surgical | Survived |
Grubina et al25 | 1 | Male | 72 | Percutaneous: RFA | 9 | Pleuritic chest pain | CT of the chest PAD #15 | Pneumopericardium | EGD | Surgical | Survived |
St Julien et al26 | 1 | Male | 59 | Percutaneous: transeptal LA ablation with ThermoCool catheter | 42 | Chest pain, diaphoresis, headache, fever, altered mental status | TTE | No vegetations | CT of the chest | Surgical | Survived |
Zellerhoff et al27 | 1 | Male | 63 | Percutaneous: RFA with 3D mapping | 14 | Muscle weakness, generalised fatigue followed by fever and left-sided hemiparesis | CT of the head | Several large intracerebral lesions suspicious for air embolism | CT of the chest | Non-surgical | Death |
Purerfellner et al28 | 1 | Male | 49 | Percutaneous: RFA | 29 | Fever, chills, nausea, emesis, altered mental status, athetotic movements; skin changes, haematemesis | EGD | Unable to localise source of bleeding | EGD | Non-surgical | Death |
Stockigt et al29 | 1 | Male | 78 | Percutaneous: cryoballoon PV isolation | 28 | Fever, shivers, cough for 10 days, followed by neurological symptoms | CT of the chest and abdomen | Negative | Cardiac CT | Non-surgical | Survived |
Tancevski et al30 | 1 | Male | 45 | Percutaneous: transcatheter ablation | 42 | Fever, weakness, sensory loss of right limbs | CT of the chest and abdomen | CT of the chest: AEF; CT of the abdomen: multiple renal and splenic infarctions | CT surgery | Surgical | Survived |
Haggerty et al31 | 1 | Male | 27 | Percutaneous: PV RFA | 22 | Fever, chills, hypotension, haematemesis | CT of the chest | Pneumomediastinum adjacent to LA | CT surgery | Surgical | Survived |
Kanth and Fang32 | 1 | Female | 69 | Percutaneous: RFA | 60 | Sepsis, ischaemic stroke, melena | CT of the chest | AEF | EGD | Non-surgical | Death |
Ben-David et al33 | 1 | Female | 73 | Percutaneous: RFA | 9 | Pneumomediastinum | UGI series | 4 mm oesophageal perforation at 6 cm from GEJ | EGD | Non-surgical | Death |
Hartman et al34 | 1 | Male | 62 | Percutaneous: RFA | 30 | Odynophagia, fever, chills, rigours, syncope | Cardiac catheterisation | Negative | CT of the chest | Surgical | Survived |
Zini et al35 | 1 | Male | 44 | Percutaneous: RFA | – | Altered mental status, stupor | CT of the head | Multifocal air emboli | EGD | Antibiotics, antithrombotics, fistula repair | Death |
Rivera et al36 | 1 | Female | 50 | Percutaneous: RFA | 28 | Minor haematemesis | CT of the chest | AEF and pleural effusions | EGD | Surgical | Survived |
Tan and Coffey37 | 1 | Female | 67 | Surgical: MVR and Maze procedure | 20 | Nausea, fever, numbness left foot; unresponsiveness | CT of the head | CT of the head: air embolism RSFA | CT of the chest | Non-surgical | Death |
Shim et al38 | 1 | Male | 46 | Percutaneous: RFA | 2 | Fever, chills, cough, headache; confusion, generalised tonic-clonic seizures | TTE/TEE | No thrombus | CT of the chest | Surgical | Survived |
Neven et al39 | 1 | Male | 69 | Percutaneous: HIFU | 31 | Fever, haematemesis, seizures, phrenic nerve palsy | CT of the head | Cerebral embolism | Autopsy | Non-surgical | Death |
Dixit et al40 | 1 | Female | NA | Percutaneous: PV isolation | 14 | Fever, haematemesis, nausea | EGD | Possible Mallory-Weiss tear | CT of the head | Non-surgical | Death |
AEF, atrioesophageal fistula; CFAE, complex fractionated atrial electrograms; CPVA, circumferential pulmonary vein ablation; EGD, esophagogastroduodenoscopy; GEJ, gastroesophageal junction; HIFU, high-intensity focused ultrasound; IRAAF, intraoperative radiofrequency ablation of atrial fibrillation; LA, left atrium; LOC, loss of consciousness; LRFA, linear radiofrequency ablation; MVR, mitral valve replacement; NA, not available; PAD, postablation day; PV, pulmonary vein; PVI, pulmonary vein ablation; RFA, radiofrequency ablation; RSFA, right superior frontal area; TEE, transesophageal echocardiogram; TIA, transient ischaemic attack; TTE, transthoracic echocardiogram; UGI, upper gastrointestinal; VF, ventricular fibrillation.