Recent topics on the surgical treatment for atrial fibrillation.

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-entry circuit. Although this procedure has become the gold standard technique for the surgical treatment of atrial fibrillation with approximately 90% success rate, several modifications have been made over time. To obtain a more physiological atrial transport function, radial approach technique or bilateral appendage-preserved maze procedures were developed and to simplify surgical procedures, maze operation with cryo-ablation or radiofrequency-ablation were created. Other topics are concerned with surgical target or approach to atrial fibrillation. Ectopic focus theories from pulmonary veins have been widely recognized recently and the surgical isolation of pulmonary veins orifices is performed with various energy sources. In addition to standard cut-and-sew surgical technique, cryoablation, unipolar or bipolar radiofrequency ablation, or microwave ablation were induced with endocardial or epicardial approach for the achievement of less invasive cardiac surgery. As atrial fibrillation leads to frequent mortality, cardiac surgeons have to treat atrial fibrillation with other cardiac disease more frequently to obtain better quality of operative results.