Five-box thoracoscopic maze based on the Gemini-S bipolar ablation device to treat atrial fibrillation

2021 ◽  

Thoracoscopic atrial fibrillation ablation seeks to replicate the electrophysiological effects of more invasive, open surgical procedures. The authors present a lesion concept that includes isolation of the pulmonary veins, the left atrial posterior wall, and the superior vena cava, respectively, lines to inhibit perimitral and periauricular flutter circuits, and left atrial appendage closure. All lesions are tested for bidirectional block.

Author(s):  
Sanghamitra Mohanty ◽  
Chintan Trivedi ◽  
Pamela Horton ◽  
Domenico G. Della Rocca ◽  
Carola Gianni ◽  
...  

Background We evaluated long‐term outcome of isolation of pulmonary veins, left atrial posterior wall, and superior vena cava, including time to recurrence and prevalent triggering foci at repeat ablation in patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation with or without cardiovascular comorbidities. Methods and Results A total of 1633 consecutive patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation that were arrhythmia‐free for 2 years following the index ablation were classified into: group 1 (without comorbidities); n=692 and group 2 (with comorbidities); n=941. We excluded patients with documented ablation of areas other than pulmonary veins, the left atrial posterior wall, and the superior vena cava at the index procedure. At 10 years after an average of 1.2 procedures, 215 (31%) and 480 (51%) patients had recurrence with median time to recurrence being 7.4 (interquartile interval [IQI] 4.3–8.5) and 5.6 (IQI 3.8–8.3) years in group 1 and 2, respectively. A total of 201 (93.5%) and 456 (95%) patients from group 1 and 2 underwent redo ablation; 147/201 and 414/456 received left atrial appendage and coronary sinus isolation and 54/201 and 42/456 had left atrial lines and flutter ablation. At 2 years after the redo, 134 (91.1%) and 391 (94.4%) patients from group 1 and 2 receiving left atrial appendage/coronary sinus isolation remained arrhythmia‐free whereas sinus rhythm was maintained in 4 (7.4%) and 3 (7.1%) patients in respective groups undergoing empirical lines and flutter ablation ( P <0.001). Conclusions Very late recurrence of atrial fibrillation after successful isolation of pulmonary veins, regardless of the comorbidity profile, was majorly driven by non‐pulmonary vein triggers and ablation of these foci resulted in high success rate. However, presence of comorbidities was associated with significantly earlier recurrence.


2020 ◽  

Epicardial Convergent ablation followed by endocardial touch-up and an additional ablation may be superior to catheter-based interventions in patients with persistent atrial fibrillation. We sought to extend the epicardial lesion set by changing the standard subxiphoid thoracotomy to a left-lateral, totally thoracoscopic approach. This tutorial depicts a closed-chest, beating-heart procedure, including ablation of the left atrial posterior wall, the left atrial dome, and the left pulmonary veins. The left atrial appendage is closed using an epicardial occlusion device.


2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (Supplement_2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Y Matsunaga ◽  
Y Egami ◽  
M Yano ◽  
M Yamato ◽  
R Shutta ◽  
...  

Abstract Background It has been reported that elimination of non-pulmonary vein (PV) triggers after PV isolation is a good predictor of atrial tachyarrhythmia free survival. However, precise mapping of triggers outside from superior vena cava (SVC) or left atrial posterior wall (LAPW) are difficult. The aim of this study is to assess the efficacy of self-reference mapping technique to eliminate non-PV triggers originated from outside of primordial pulmonary vein area. Methods Total of 431 patients (446 procedures) underwent atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation in a hospital and in a medical center from January 2017 to March 2019. After isolation of PV, non-PV triggers were induced with isoproterenol and/or adenosine triphosphate. Reproducible non-PV triggers were targeted to ablate using following self-reference mapping technique: A trigger conducts centrifugally and the earliest site should be distinguished from other later activated sites. Using a PentaRay multipolar catheter, the operators annotated the earliest site of local activation and a reference tag was placed. The multipolar catheter was then moved to the reference tag and the process repeated. Ultimately, we identified clusters of early circumferential activation and ablated. Results A total of 32 non-PV triggers excluding the origin from LAPW and SVC were induced in 23 patients. Nineteen triggers (59%) were located in the right atrium and 13 triggers (41%) in the left atrium (Figure 1). All triggers were eliminated with ablation and AF was non-inducible in all patients at the end of the procedure. During the follow-up (529±270 days), 18 patients (77%) were free from atrial tachyarrhythmias after a 3-month blanking period. Three patients received additional ablation procedures for recurrent atrial arrhythmias. No non-PV triggers ablated during the previous procedure were observed. Conclusion A novel self-reference mapping technique is useful for eliminating non-PV triggers in terms of the short- and long-term success. Figure 1. Distribution of non-PV triggers Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding source: None


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (14) ◽  
pp. 3129
Author(s):  
Riyaz A. Kaba ◽  
Aziz Momin ◽  
John Camm

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a global disease with rapidly rising incidence and prevalence. It is associated with a higher risk of stroke, dementia, cognitive decline, sudden and cardiovascular death, heart failure and impairment in quality of life. The disease is a major burden on the healthcare system. Paroxysmal AF is typically managed with medications or endocardial catheter ablation to good effect. However, a large proportion of patients with AF have persistent or long-standing persistent AF, which are more complex forms of the condition and thus more difficult to treat. This is in part due to the progressive electro-anatomical changes that occur with AF persistence and the spread of arrhythmogenic triggers and substrates outside of the pulmonary veins. The posterior wall of the left atrium is a common site for these changes and has become a target of ablation strategies to treat these more resistant forms of AF. In this review, we discuss the role of the posterior left atrial wall in persistent and long-standing persistent AF, the limitations of current endocardial-focused treatment strategies, and future perspectives on hybrid epicardial–endocardial approaches to posterior wall isolation or ablation.


Heart Rhythm ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (8) ◽  
pp. S126
Author(s):  
Ciro Ascione ◽  
Marco Bergonti ◽  
Valentina Catto, Stefania I. Riva ◽  
Massimo Moltrasio ◽  
Fabrizio Tundo ◽  
...  

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