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Hybrid Convergent Procedure with Proactive Esophageal Cooling for the Treatment of Long-Standing Persistent Atrial Fibrillation
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  • William Zagrodzky,
  • Alejandro Velasco,
  • Chirag Buch,
  • Dawn Hui,
  • Christopher Joseph,
  • David Onsager,
  • Erik Kulstad,
  • Hemal M. Nayak
William Zagrodzky
Colorado College

Corresponding Author:william.zagrodzky1@gmail.com

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Alejandro Velasco
University of Texas Health
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Chirag Buch
University of Texas Health
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Dawn Hui
University of Texas Health
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Christopher Joseph
The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
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David Onsager
The University of Chicago Medicine
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Erik Kulstad
The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
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Hemal M. Nayak
University of Texas Health
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Abstract

The hybrid Convergent procedure is approved to treat symptomatic patients with long-standing persistent atrial fibrillation (AF). Despite direct visualization during surgical ablation as well as the use of luminal esophageal temperature (LET) monitoring, esophageal injury is still possible. A dedicated device for proactive esophageal cooling has recently been cleared by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to reduce the likelihood of ablation-related esophageal injury resulting from radiofrequency cardiac ablation procedures. In this report, we describe the first uses of proactive esophageal cooling for esophageal protection during the epicardial ablation portion of hybrid convergent procedures.