title: Left-sided mini-maze procedure via the left atrial appendage.
abstract: This study presents a novel way to perform the mini-maze procedure through the left atrial appendage. By this way, the usual additional incision of the intra-atrial groove is avoided, especially in patients receiving coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) or aortic valve replacement without mitral valve disease. We retrospectively analysed 23 consecutive patients who received this novel mini-maze procedure between 2009 and 2011. In recognition of a learning curve, we divided the patients into two groups (Group 1: Patients 1-11 versus Group 2: Patients 12-23), according to the date of operation. In Group 2, 7 patients (58.33%) were completely free of atrial fibrillation at the time of the follow-up. In Group 1, only 2 (18.18%) patients were successfully treated resulting in a stable sinus rhythm at the time of the follow-up. The mini-maze procedure performed through the left atrial appendage is a safe and feasible technique; however, it seems to be less effective than the Cox-maze III procedure and is associated with a learning curve.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiac, Thoracic, Transplantation and Vascular Surgery, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany.
authors.forename: Issam
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ismail
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiac, Thoracic, Transplantation and Vascular Surgery, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany leissner.felix@mh-hannover.de.
authors.forename: Felix
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Fleissner
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiac, Thoracic, Transplantation and Vascular Surgery, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany.
authors.forename: Serghei
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cebotari
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiac, Thoracic, Transplantation and Vascular Surgery, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany.
authors.forename: Saad
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rustum
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiac, Thoracic, Transplantation and Vascular Surgery, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany.
authors.forename: Axel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Haverich
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000889:Anti-Arrhythmia Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D020517:Atrial Appendage / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D001281:Atrial Fibrillation / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D006348:Cardiac Surgical Procedures / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods*; D002983:Clinical Competence; D006801:Humans; D059032:Learning Curve; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000889:Anti-Arrhythmia Agents
keywords: Atrial fibrillation; Left atrial appendage; Mini maze