title: Position of totally thoracoscopic surgical ablation in the treatment of atrial fibrillation: an alternative method of conduction testing.
abstract: Recent advances in surgical techniques and understanding of the pathophysiology of atrial fibrillation has led to the development of a less invasive thoracoscopic surgical treatment including video-assisted bilateral pulmonary vein isolation using bipolar radiofrequency ablation clamps. More recently, the same operation became possible via a totally thoracoscopic approach. In this paper we describe technical aspects of the thoracoscopic approach to surgical treatment of AF and discuss its features, benefits and limitations. Furthermore, we present a new alternative technique of conduction testing using endoscopic multi-electrode recording catheters. An alternative electrophysiological mapping strategy involves a multi-electrode recording catheter designed primarily for percutaneous endocardial electrophysiologic mapping procedure. According to our initial experience, the recordings obtained from the multi-electrode catheters positioned around the pulmonary veins are more accurate than the recordings obtained from the multifunctional ablation and pacing pen. The totally thoracoscopic surgical ablation approach is a feasible and efficient treatment strategy for atrial fibrillation. The conduction testing can be easily and rapidly performed using a multifunctional pen or multi-electrode recording catheter.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Transplantation and Mechanical Circulatory Support, Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Foundation Trust, Harefield Hospital, Harefield, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Anton
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sabashnikov
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Transplantation and Mechanical Circulatory Support, Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Foundation Trust, Harefield Hospital, Harefield, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Weymann
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Foundation Trust, Harefield Hospital, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Shouvik
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Haldar
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Transplantation and Mechanical Circulatory Support, Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Foundation Trust, Harefield Hospital, Harefield, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Rafik F B
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Soliman
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Transplantation and Mechanical Circulatory Support, Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Foundation Trust, Harefield Hospital, Harefield, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Javid
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fatullayev
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Heart Center, University Hospital of Cologne, Cologne, Germany.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Heart Center, University Hospital of Cologne, Cologne, Germany.
authors.forename: Wajid
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Hussain
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Heart Center, University Hospital of Cologne, Cologne, Germany.
authors.forename: Yeong-Hoon
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Transplantation and Mechanical Circulatory Support, Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Foundation Trust, Harefield Hospital, Harefield, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Mohamed
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zeriouh
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Pascal M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Dohmen
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Transplantation and Mechanical Circulatory Support, Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Foundation Trust, Harefield Hospital, Harefield, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Aron-Frederik
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Popov
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Foundation Trust, Harefield Hospital, Harefield, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Vias
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Markides
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Foundation Trust, Harefield Hospital, Harefield, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Tom
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Transplantation and Mechanical Circulatory Support, Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Foundation Trust, Harefield Hospital, Harefield, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Toufan
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bahrami
mesh_terms: D001281:Atrial Fibrillation / Q000601:surgery*; D062906:Cardiac Catheters / Q000639:trends*; D017115:Catheter Ablation / Q000379:methods*; D006329:Heart Conduction System / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D013906:Thoracoscopy / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends