Box Check Oesophageal Pacing
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Dr Guy Haywood and Dr Guy Furniss using the Box Check™ Catheter and Stimulator at Derriford Hospital, Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust.


​Box Check Oesophageal Catheter and Stimulator

Increasingly catheter ablation for persistent and longstanding persistent AF will require posterior wall isolation. There are around 2,000 procedures for this patient group in the UK per annum at present with a huge potential for increase.

​Requirements for the Oesophageal Pacing Technique
  • A fifteen minute outpatient appointment
  • The Box Check Oesophageal Catheter
  • The Box Check Stimulator
  • Standard external ECG monitoring equipment
  • X-ray fluoroscopy to confirm the pacing electrodes within the oesophageal catheter placed down the oesophagous are level with the left atrium.

Advantages of the Oesophageal Pacing Technique
  • The Oesophageal catheter is not invasive - it does not puncture any part of the body.
  • The technique requires only a fifteen minute out patient procedure
  • The technique replaces a higher risk, invasive, lengthy surgical procedure

Potential uptake of the technique
  • All surgical ablation patients in which posterior wall isolation has been performed
  • All catheter ablation patients in which posterior wall isolation has been performed
  • Patients excluded – patients remaining in atrial fibrillation who cannot support sinus rhythm post procedure for long enough to allow pacing
  • Ideal time for testing is probably at the end of the ‘blanking period’ (approximately 2-3 months post procedure.