Distance between the left atrium and the vertebral body is predictive of esophageal movement in serial MR imaging.

Purpose: MRI or CT imaging can be used to identify the esophageal location prior to left atrial ablation, but the esophagus may move making the location unreliable when ablating to minimize esophageal injury. The aim of this study was to evaluate esophageal position and movement based on serial MRI imaging with the goal of identifying imaging and clinical characteristics that can predict the esophageal movement.

Methods: Fifty patients undergoing 190 MRI scans were analyzed. The relative position of the esophagus in each MRI along with clinical and imaging characteristics was quantified, including the gap between the left atrium (LA) and the vertebral body (GAP), an anatomic space in which the esophagus can move.

Results: A mean of 3.8 MRIs was analyzed per patient. Sixteen patients (32.0%) experienced significant lateral esophageal movement of more than 10 mm. In the significant movement group, body mass index (BMI) was higher (33.0 ± 6.5 vs 28.8 ± 5.3, p = 0.02) and the GAP was significantly larger (7.1 ± 2.5 vs 4.8 ± 5.1 mm, p = 0.04). Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that the GAP ≤ 4.5 mm was the only independent predictor of the esophagus not moving (odds ratio = 9.25, 95% confidence interval = 1.72 to 49.67, p = 0.0095).

Conclusions: A GAP of less than 4.5 mm between the LA and the vertebral body is associated with lack of esophageal movement (< 10 mm). This suggests that the measurement of GAP < 4.5 mm may be used to predict the esophageal location in patients undergoing atrial ablation.