Key result
Surgical ablation of atrial fibrillation is a safe and effective treatment, with more extensive lesion sets generally providing better long-term outcomes compared to pulmonary vein isolation alone.
Why the study?
Does surgical ablation of atrial fibrillation improve outcomes in patients with atrial fibrillation?
Does surgical ablation of atrial fibrillation improve outcomes in patients with atrial fibrillation?
This review highlights that surgical ablation of atrial fibrillation is a safe and effective treatment, especially as a concomitant procedure during other cardiac surgeries, though more standardized trials are needed.
Supports concomitant surgical AF ablation; leaves open optimal lesion set standardization pending RCTs.
Surgical ablation of atrial fibrillation (AF) is currently performed in many major hospitals throughout the world. This paper reviews the development of surgical procedures for AF ablation. It is hoped that the paper can provide a foundation for those involved with ablation of AF to improve patient care. AF is triggered by a rapidly firing focus and could be treated with a localized ablation procedure. A large body of literature has confirmed the safety and efficacy of surgical ablation of AF. New ablation technologies have simplified the surgical treatment of AF and expanded the indications. Generally, more extensive lesion sets have had better long-term outcomes. Despite the tremendous progress that has been made in the development of surgical ablation of AF, many questions remain unanswered. It is anticipated that well designed clinical trials will continue to provide solid evidence to help formulate practice guidelines in the future.
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Zhang et al. (2014) conducted a review in Atrial fibrillation. Surgical ablation was evaluated. Surgical ablation of atrial fibrillation is a safe and effective treatment, with more extensive lesion sets generally providing better long-term outcomes compared to pulmonary vein isolation alone.
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