title: A tailored anatomical approach to prevent complications during left atrial ablation.
abstract: Atrial fibrillation ablation surgery has grown very popular in recent years. Modern techniques involve creation of linear scars on the left atrial wall using different ablation devices. That raises the concern about new major surgical complications that can be caused by the ablation procedure. Postablation coronary obstruction and esophageal injury have been described. We report our present strategy for left atrial ablation in which the lesion set is tailored to the specific coronary anatomy. Safeguards to prevent esophageal and bronchial injury are also outlined.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiac Surgery, S Raffaele University Hospital, Milan, Italy. stefano.benussi@hsr.it
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Benussi
authors.forename: Simona
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nascimbene
authors.forename: Simone
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Calvi
authors.forename: Ottavio
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Alfieri
mesh_terms: D001281:Atrial Fibrillation / Q000601:surgery*; D017115:Catheter Ablation / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D002921:Cicatrix / Q000517:prevention & control; D017023:Coronary Angiography; D003331:Coronary Vessels / Q000293:injuries / Q000473:pathology; D004867:Equipment Design; D006325:Heart Atria / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D008943:Mitral Valve / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000517:prevention & control