title: Improved patient survival with concomitant Cox Maze III procedure compared with heart surgery alone.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The benefit of the Cox Maze procedure combined with heart surgery was evaluated at long-term follow-up.
  
  
  METHODS
  The outcome for 37 patients who underwent a Cox Maze III procedure combined with heart surgery (Maze group) was compared with that of 66 patients who had heart surgery alone (control group). All patients were in persistent atrial fibrillation preoperatively. The two groups had similar preoperative characteristics and were operated upon during the same era (1996 to 2004).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Five-year survival, including hospital deaths, was 89% +/- 5% in the Maze group and 60% +/- 7% in the control group (log rank p = 0.008). Causes of death were predominantly related to heart failure (1 of 37 in the Maze group and 12 of 66 in the control group; p = 0.02) and to sudden death (0 of 37 in the Maze group and 9 of 66 in the control group; p = 0.02). After correction for preoperative variables, Cox regression analysis showed that the Maze procedure improved survival independently (p = 0.019). In a subgroup of patients with left atrial diameter of more than 60 mm preoperatively, the 5-year survival estimate was 92% +/- 6% in the Maze group versus 59% +/- 9% in the control group (log rank p = 0.012). The 5-year estimate of conversion to sinus rhythm was 91% +/- 7% in the Maze group and 33% +/- 7% in the control group (log rank p < 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The restoration of sinus rhythm by a Maze procedure combined with heart surgery markedly improved long-term survival in this series.
authors.affiliation: Cardiovascular Department, Université Catholique de Louvain, Cliniques Universitaires de Mont-Godinne, Yvoir, Belgium. louagie@chir.ucl.ac.be
authors.forename: Yves
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Louagie
authors.forename: Michel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Buche
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Eucher
authors.forename: Jean-Claude
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Schoevaerdts
authors.forename: Marina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gerard
authors.forename: Jacques
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jamart
authors.forename: Dominique
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Blommaert
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001281:Atrial Fibrillation / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000401:mortality* / Q000601:surgery*; D006348:Cardiac Surgical Procedures / Q000379:methods / Q000401:mortality*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D017115:Catheter Ablation / Q000379:methods / Q000401:mortality*; D002423:Cause of Death; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D017052:Hospital Mortality / Q000639:trends*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011336:Probability; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D015996:Survival Rate; D016896:Treatment Outcome