Coronary artery fistula (CAF) is a rare complication following coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). True incidence is unknown, as at least 50% are asymptomatic. CAF can be either congenital or acquired. Congenital CAF is either an isolated finding or seen with other congenital cardiac anomalies or structural heart defects. Acquired CAF is seen in relation with trauma, infection, or iatrogenic injury. We report a rare case of a 58-year-old man with iatrogenic aorto-right atrial fistula following inadvertent saphenous vein grafting (SVG) implantation to a right coronary vein with persistent angina following CABG and resolution of symptoms following successful obliteration of large, hemodynamically significant, fistulae by coil embolization when medical management failed.
Funding Acknowledgements
Type of funding sources: None.
Background
Differently from catheter ablation (CA) of atrial fibrillation (AF), outcome data on CA of atrial re-entrant arrhythmias are scarce.
Purpose
We sought to evaluate predictors of recurrence at follow up in this setting.
Methods
We analysed consecutive patients undergoing mapping and CA left atrial tachyarrhythmia. Three-dimensional high-density activation and voltage maps were created for each investigated tachycardia by means of CARTO® system. Left atrial (LA) size was measured as the anteroposterior diameter on parasternal long axis view on transthoracic echocardiogram. Severe LA enlargement was defined for LA diameter >47 mm in women and >52 mm in men in accordance with guidelines.
Results
Eighty-eight patients were considered (67 ± 9 years old, 45% males) undergoing 94 CA procedures (1.1 ± 0.3 per patient). Most patient had past medical history of pulmonary vein isolation (57%). In the investigated population, 120 tachycardia morphologies were mapped and ablated. Acute procedural success was achieved in 97% of cases without any major complication. After a mean follow-up of 17 ± 11 months, the overall freedom from atrial arrhythmia was 58% and 65% after single and repeat procedures, respectively. Severe LA enlargement was the only variable associated with arrhythmia recurrence at follow-up and it was consistent after single and repeat procedures (Figure 1 A-B).
Conclusion
CA of complex left atrial tachyarrhythmia is safe and effective, and the mid- and long-term outcome is improved when LA is not severely enlarged. CA of should therefore be considered early in this patient population to achieve better clinical outcome.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.