Total pulmonary vein occlusion as a consequence of catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation mimicking primary lung disease.

Introduction: Catheter ablation has recently been used for curative treatment of atrial fibrillation.

Methods And Results: Three of 239 patients who underwent ablation close to the pulmonary vein (PV) ostia at our institute developed severe hemoptysis, dyspnea, and pneumonia as early as 1 week and as late as 6 months after the ablation. Because the patients were arrhythmia-free, the treating physician initially attributed the symptoms to new-onset pulmonary disease (e.