Minimal invasive surgery for atrial fibrillation: an updated review.
OBJECTIVE
Despite its proven efficacy, the Cox-Maze III procedure did not gain widespread acceptance for the treatment of stand-alone atrial fibrillation (SA-AF) because of its complexity and technical difficulty. Surgical ablation for SA-AF can now be successfully performed utilizing minimally invasive surgery (MIS). This study provides an overview of state-of-the-art MIS for the treatment of SA-AF.


RESULTS
Studies selected for this review were identified on PUBMED and exclusion and inclusion criteria were applied to select the publication to be screened. Twenty-eight studies were included; 27 (96.4%) were observational in nature whereas 1 was prospective non-randomized. The total number of patients was 1051 (range 14-114). Mean age ranged from 45.3 to 67.1 years. Suboptimal results were obtained when employing microwave and high focused ultrasound energies. In contrast, MIS ablation of SA-AF achieved satisfactory 1-year results when the bipolar radiofrequency was employed as energy source, with antiarrhythmic drug-free success rate comparable to percutaneous catheter ablation (PCA). The success rate in paroxysmal was even higher than in PCA. In contrast, ganglionated plexi ablation and left atrial appendage removal seem not to influence the recurrence of AF and the occurrence of postoperative thromboembolic events.


CONCLUSIONS
Minimally invasive surgery ablation of SA-AF achieved satisfactory 1-year results when the bipolar radiofrequency was employed. Nevertheless, the relatively high complication rate reported suggest that such techniques require further refinement. Finally, the preliminary results of the hybrid approach are promising but they need to be confirmed.
Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery and Cardiology,  Academic Hospital Maastricht and Cardiovascular Research Institute Maastricht, Maastricht,  The Netherlands.
Mark
M
La Meir
Sandro
S
Gelsomino
Fabiana
F
Lucà
Laurent
L
Pison
Andrea
A
Colella
Roberto
R
Lorusso
Elena
E
Crudeli
Gian Franco
GF
Gensini
Harry G
HG
Crijns
Jos
J
Maessen
D001281:Atrial Fibrillation / Q000601:surgery*; D017115:Catheter Ablation; D006801:Humans; D019060:Minimally Invasive Surgical Procedures