Curative treatment strategies for patients with atrial fibrillation were introduced in the late 1980s by Cox and co-coworkers. Following extensive animal experimental studies, the Maze procedure was developed and applied clinically. Subsequently, modifications of the initial surgical strategy were introduced, i.e. the Maze II and Maze III procedure. The efficacy of the Maze operation to establi...

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common sustained cardiac arrhythmia in patients with mitral valve disease and is present in up to 50% of patients undergoing mitral valve surgery, contributing to increased risks of systemic embolization, anticoagulant-related hemorrhage and mortality. The Cox maze III procedure, introduced in 1987 by Dr. James Cox, was the first effective operation for AF a...

We read with great interest the paper by Je et al. [1] regarding minimally invasive surgical treatment for atrial fibrillation. This was a comprehensive systematic review pooling available data on the Cox-maze procedure, beating-heart epicardial ablation and hybrid procedure to compare their safety and efficacy. Based on 37 studies included in this review, Je et al. demonstrated that at 12-mont...

OBJECTIVE Since the late 1980s, surgical ablation of atrial fibrillation (AF) has been one of the most effective means of curing this arrhythmia. However, about 20% of patients who underwent maze procedures have shown recurrence of AF during the follow-up periods. The aim of this study is to evaluate our result of maze procedures in last decade and to analyze the risk factors of maze failure. ...

AIMS Catheter ablation and surgical Maze procedure are effective in treating atrial fibrillation (AF) patients. However, there is no study that compares the effect of circumferential pulmonary vein isolation (CPVI) combined with substrate ablation after valvular surgery and the concomitant Maze procedure for the treatment of AF in patients with rheumatic heart disease (RHD). The aim of this stu...

OBJECTIVES We sought to determine whether limited left atrial Maze surgery encircling each of the pulmonary veins, using cooled-tip radiofrequency (RF) ablation, is as effective as the bi-atrial approach? BACKGROUND The original Cox/Maze operation effectively restores sinus rhythm (SR) in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). Ablation procedures aimed at eliminating pulmonary vein foci have p...

After the introduction of endocardial radiofrequency catheter, only two arrhythmias, atrial fibrillation and ischemic ventricular tachycardia require surgical procedures. In this review, we describe recent advancements and problems of surgical treatment for atrial fibrillation. On the basis of multiple-circuit re-entry theory, Cox developed the maze operation with the aim of interrupting the re...

Ablation of the frontal pole was followed by the deterioration of returning behavior; position discrimination in an enclosed T maze was also affected. Both tests required the utilization of response produced cues: In the elevated T maze, in which extra-maze visual cues were available, the lesion had no effect on position discrimination. Introduction of differential visual cues to the enclosed T...

Evolution of Surgical Ablation of Atrial Fibrillation T he success of catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation has continued to increase with the introduction of new technology, additional experience, and advances in our understanding of the targets of ablation. Nevertheless, patients with symptomatic drug refractory long-standing atrial fibrillation present a particular challenge for treatment...