title: Atrial fibrillation: current surgical options and their assessment.
abstract: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common cardiac arrhythmia and is associated with morbidity and mortality. Traditional surgical treatment of AF is the Cox-Maze III procedure, a complicated operation. New surgical approaches include alternate energy sources (radiofrequency, microwave, cryothermy) and simplified left atrial lesion sets. These operations cure AF in 70% to 80% of patients. This review describes contemporary and emerging surgical approaches to AF, synthesizes results of these operations, and proposes new standards for reporting results of AF treatment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, The Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, Ohio 44195, USA. gillinom@ccf.org
authors.forename: A Marc
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Gillinov
authors.forename: Eugene H
authors.initials: EH
authors.lastname: Blackstone
authors.forename: Patrick M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: McCarthy
mesh_terms: D001281:Atrial Fibrillation / Q000601:surgery*; D006348:Cardiac Surgical Procedures / Q000379:methods; D017115:Catheter Ablation; D006801:Humans; D016896:Treatment Outcome