title: Epicardial microwave application in chronic atrial fibrillation surgery.
abstract: The search for alternative epicardial energy sources in the treatment of nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (AF) is a relatively new aspect of the evolving spectrum of Maze operations. We tested the hypothesis that epicardial microwave ablation produces identical results to those of the standard cryosurgical Maze. Fourteen consecutive patients with chronic AF underwent on-pump epicardial Maze procedures after routine cardiac surgery. The results were compared with those of 14 control patients selected from our Maze database of 280 patients. There were no differences in age, sex, cardiothoracic ratio, duration of AF, pump time, intensive care unit or hospital stays. The aortic cross clamp time with epicardial microwave was, however, shortened from 110 to 65 minutes (p=0.011). The recurrence rate of AF after discharge showed no significant difference between the two groups (14% vs. 15%, p=0.841). Epicardial microwave ablation might be a valuable alternative to the conventional cryosurgical Maze procedure, especially for those patients without associated mitral valve disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Pusan National University Hospital, Busan, Korea.
authors.forename: Sang Kwon
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Suk Jung
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Choo
authors.forename: Kyung Sun
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Jae Won
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D017677:Age Distribution; D001281:Atrial Fibrillation / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy*; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003452:Cryosurgery / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007723:Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008872:Microwaves / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D010496:Pericardium; D011379:Prognosis; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods; D012307:Risk Factors; D055502:Secondary Prevention; D017678:Sex Distribution; D016896:Treatment Outcome