title: Totally endoscopic microwave ablation for lone atrial fibrillation: an alternative method of treatment.
abstract: Recent studies suggest that pulmonary vein isolation can be an effective method of treatment for atrial fibrillation. This procedure can be performed with minimally invasive, totally endoscopic cardiac surgical techniques. We report our first successful endoscopic isolation of the pulmonary veins in a patient with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation. The procedure consisted of making a box lesion around the pulmonary veins, using a flexible microwave energy delivery probe which was placed endoscopically (video assisted thoracoscopy) through three ports, bilaterally. During a six-month follow up there was no recurrence of atrial fibrillation and the patient's quality of life improved significantly.
authors.affiliation: 1st Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, AHEPA Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece. charokoposnick@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Nicholas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Charokopos
authors.forename: Efthimia
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Rouska
authors.forename: Ioannis
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Styliadis
authors.forename: Polychronis
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Antonitsis
authors.forename: Christos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Papakonstantinou
authors.forename: Panagiotis
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Spanos
mesh_terms: D001281:Atrial Fibrillation / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008872:Microwaves; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life; D013906:Thoracoscopy / Q000379:methods*; D016896:Treatment Outcome