Is Atrial Fibrillation surgery performed at the Heart Institute?
Surgery for atrial fibrillation, the MAZE procedure, was developed in the 1980’s and introduced into clinical practice in the early 1990’s. It was very successful at curing atrial fibrillation with cure rates of 90%, but it is a relatively difficult procedure. For this reason, it never gained widespread use in its original form. Over the past several years, however, technological advances have made the procedure easier and safer to perform. Although the cure rate is somewhat less than the original MAZE (80% vs. 90%), it is now more commonly performed. We introduced the CRYO-MAZE procedure at the Heart Institute in 2002 and perform it routinely in conjuction with other heart surgeries. It is superior to medical or catheter-based treatment of atrial fibrillation because, when successful, it returns the heart to a normal rhythm. This improves heart function and functional capacity, reduces stroke risk, and obviates the need for chronic anti-coagulaton (blood thinners/Coumadin), advantages
