title: A Non-Surgeon's Guide to Surgical Management of Atrial Fibrillation.
abstract: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common cardiac arrhythmia associated with substantial increases in death, heart failure, and stroke. It is important for healthcare providers in all fields to also gain an understanding of the novel techniques used in surgical treatment of AF. Clinicians must now decide between many different options. There are modified Maze procedures, catheter-based or minimally invasive surgical approaches to isolate the triggers and foci in the left atrium responsible for AF. A recently proposed radial approach can also be employed in substitution of the traditional geographical maze surgery. Finally, different energy sources, such as cryoablation, radiofrequency, microwave, and laser, can be used to create lesions in the atrium. Especially in the fields of neurology, psychiatry, and psychology, an understanding of these treatments is important for the management of AF patients with neurological pathology.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Neurology, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, FL ; Anesthesiology, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, FL.
authors.forename: Peter Y
authors.initials: PY
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.affiliation: Departments of Neurology, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, FL.
authors.forename: Roselle
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Derequito
authors.affiliation: Departments of Neurology, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, FL.
authors.forename: Monica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mishra
authors.affiliation: Departments of Neurology, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, FL.
authors.forename: Spandana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tenkabail
authors.affiliation: Departments of Neurology, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, FL.
authors.forename: Aakash
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bodhit
authors.affiliation: Anesthesiology, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, FL.
authors.forename: Saeed
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ansari
authors.affiliation: Departments of Neurology, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, FL.
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ganji
authors.affiliation: Departments of Neurology, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, FL.
authors.forename: Pradeepan
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Saravanapavan
authors.affiliation: Departments of Neurology, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, FL.
authors.forename: Chandana Chandra
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Shekhar
authors.affiliation: Departments of Neurology, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, FL.
authors.forename: Fawzi
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Abukhalil
authors.affiliation: Departments of Neurology, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, FL.
authors.forename: Michael F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Waters
authors.affiliation: Cardiothoracic Surgery, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, FL.
authors.forename: Thomas M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Beaver
authors.affiliation: Departments of Neurology, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, FL.
authors.forename: Vishnumurthy Shushrutha
authors.initials: VS
authors.lastname: Hedna