Current Ablation Strategies for Persistent and Long-Standing Persistent Atrial Fibrillation

Table 1

Complications during catheter ablation of persistent and long-standing persistent AF.

Type of complication	Symptoms	Incidence
Atrio-oesophageal fistula	Fever, dysphagia	Rare (0.06%)
Vascular complications (Arteriovenous fistula, arterial aneurysm, haematoma)	Pain at puncture site	0.8%
Phrenic nerve injury	Cough, dyspnea, atelectasis, and/or thoracic pain	0.3%
Pulmonary vein stenosis	Cough, hemoptysis, dyspnea, chest pain, and recurrent lung infections	0.71%
Pulmonary edema (18–48 h after the procedure)	Dyspnea, fever, elevated CRP levels	Rare
Cerebrovascular events	Neurological deficit	0.65%
Tambonade/Effusion	Hypotension, dyspnea cardiac arrest	1.4% (0.8–6%)
Death		0.1–0.15%