High prevalence of incidental endoscopic findings at routine endoscopy after atrial fibrillation ablation: Do we need a screening endoscopy for the upper gastrointestinal tract in the general population?

Atrial fibrillation (AF) represents the most common cardiac arrhythmia. It is associated with a 1.5- to 3.5-fold increase in mortality in conjunction with accompanying heart failure and other cardiovascular events [1]. Catheter ablation of AF including pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) has proven to be a safe and effective therapy evaluated in numerous trials [2]. In rare cases devastating complications like ablation-induced esophageal perforation or atrioesophageal fistula can occur, reported in ≤ 0.2% of AF ablation cases [3].