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Published on: March 15, 2020
A Case of Recurrent Transient Upper Airway Disturbance During Pulsed Field Ablation
Iwanari Kawamura1, Masateru Takigawa1, Takahiro Tsunoda1
1Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Institute of Science Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
Introduction:
After a rapid adoption of pulsed field ablation (PFA), several unique complications have been reported. Continued attention to unknown complications caused by a non-thermal, pulsed electrical field remains necessary.
Methods And Results:
A 51-year-old female with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation comorbid bronchial asthma underwent pulmonary vein isolation with PFA using PulseSelect system. During application at the right superior pulmonary vein antrum, repeated oxygen desaturation with upper airway obstruction was observed. Although the desaturation spontaneously resolved within a few minutes, safety concerns necessitated switching to radiofrequency ablation.
Conclusion:
Several potential causes of oxygen desaturation were considered, and we discuss each in this case report.
