Post-cardiac injury syndrome triggered by radiofrequency ablation for AVNRT

1Citations
Citations of this article
6Readers
Mendeley users who have this article in their library.

This article is free to access.

Abstract

Background: Post-cardiac injury syndrome (PCIS) is an inflammatory condition following myocardial or pericardial damage. In response to catheter ablation, PCIS most frequently occurs after extensive radiofrequency (RF) ablation of large areas of atrial myocardium. Minor myocardial injury from right septal slow pathway ablation for atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia (AVNRT) is not an established cause of the syndrome. Case presentation: A 62-year-old women with a 6-year history of symptomatic narrow-complex tachycardia was referred to perform an electrophysiological study. During the procedure AVNRT was recorded and a total of two RF burns were applied to the region between the coronary sinus and the tricuspid annulus. Pericardial effusion was routinely ruled out by focused cardiac ultrasound. In the following days, the patient developed fever, elevated inflammatory and cardiac markers, new-onset pericardial effusion, characteristic ECG changes, and complained of pleuritic chest pain. An extensive workup for infectious, metabolic, rheumatologic, neoplastic, and toxic causes of pericarditis and myocarditis was unremarkable. Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging showed no signs of ischemia, infiltrative disease or structural abnormalities. The patient was diagnosed with PCIS and initiated on aspirin and low-dose colchicine. At a 1-month follow-up visit the patient was free of symptoms but still had a small pericardial effusion. After three months of treatment the pericardial effusion had resolved completely. Conclusions: Inflammatory pericardial reactions can occur after minor myocardial damage from RF ablation without involvement of structures in close proximity to the pericardium.

Cite

CITATION STYLE

APA

Wenzl, F. A., Manninger, M., Wunsch, S., Scherr, D., & Bisping, E. H. (2021). Post-cardiac injury syndrome triggered by radiofrequency ablation for AVNRT. BMC Cardiovascular Disorders, 21(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12872-021-02436-1

Register to see more suggestions

Mendeley helps you to discover research relevant for your work.

Already have an account?

Save time finding and organizing research with Mendeley

Sign up for free