title: Surgery for atrial fibrillation.
abstract: Atrial fibrillation is the most common cardiac arrhythmia, and its treatment options include drug therapy or catheter-based or surgical interventions. The surgical treatment of atrial fibrillation has undergone multiple evolutions over the last several decades. The Cox-Maze procedure went on to become the gold standard for the surgical treatment of atrial fibrillation and is currently in its fourth iteration (Cox-Maze IV). This article reviews the indications and preoperative planning for performing a Cox-Maze IV procedure. This article also reviews the literature describing the surgical results for both approaches including comparisons of the Cox-Maze IV to the previous cut-and-sew method.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Barnes-Jewish Hospital, Washington University School of Medicine, 660 South Euclid Avenue, Campus Box 8234, St Louis, MO 63110, USA.
authors.forename: Christopher P
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Lawrance
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Barnes-Jewish Hospital, Washington University School of Medicine, 660 South Euclid Avenue, Campus Box 8234, St Louis, MO 63110, USA.
authors.forename: Matthew C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Henn
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Barnes-Jewish Hospital, Washington University School of Medicine, 660 South Euclid Avenue, Campus Box 8234, St Louis, MO 63110, USA. Electronic address: damianor@wustl.edu.
authors.forename: Ralph J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Damiano
mesh_terms: D001281:Atrial Fibrillation / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D017115:Catheter Ablation / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods; D006325:Heart Atria / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D006329:Heart Conduction System / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D007430:Intraoperative Care / Q000379:methods; D019060:Minimally Invasive Surgical Procedures; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D012008:Recurrence
keywords: Atrial fibrillation; Cox-Maze; Minimally invasive; Surgical ablation