Reversible atrial fibrillation secondary to a mega-oesophagus

Tahwinder Upile¹ , Waseem Jerjes¹ , Mohammed El Maaytah¹ , Sandeep Singh¹ , Colin Hopper¹ and Jaspal Mahil²

¹Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery/Head & Neck Unit, University College London Hospitals, London, UK

²General Practice, University College London Hospital, London, UK

author email corresponding author email

BMC Ear, Nose and Throat Disorders 2006, 6:15doi:10.1186/1472-6815-6-15


Published:	13 December 2006

Abstract

Background

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common cardiac arrhythmia, and it increases in prevalence with advancing age to about 5% in people older than 65 years.

Case presentation

We present a rare case of atrial fibrillation secondary to a mega-oesophagus occurring in an 84-years-old Caucasian woman. The patient had a history of progressive dysphagia and the accumulation of food debris lead to mega-oesophagus.

Conclusion

The diagnosis was made by barium swallow and electrocardiogram; evacuations of 300 ml of the food debris lead to complete resolution of the arrhythmia. The possible aetiology leading to this AF is discussed.