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European Heart Journal Advance Access published online on November 5, 2007
European Heart Journal, doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehm511
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Published on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology. All rights reserved. © The Author 2007. For permissions please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

From MAZE to ICE: new concepts and new technologies for surgical ablation of atrial fibrillation

Gerhard Hindricks1,* and Hans Kottkamp2

1 University of Leipzig, Heart Center, Leipzig, Germany
2 Heart Center Hirslanden, Zurich, Switzerland

* Corresponding author. E-mail address: hindg@medizin.uni-leipzig.de

This editorial refers to ‘A randomized double-blind study of epicardial left atrial cryoablation for permanent atrial fibrillation in patients undergoing mitral valve surgery—the SWEDish Multicentre Atrial Fibrillation study (SWEDMAF)’ by C. Blömstrom-Lundqvist et al., doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehm378

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Curative treatment strategies for patients with atrial fibrillation were introduced in the late 1980s by Cox and co-coworkers.1 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.2,3 The efficacy of the Maze operation to establish permanent and stable sinus rhythm in >90% of patients treated was impressive.4 For a long time, the Maze III was cited as the ‘gold standard’ for the curative treatment of atrial fibrillation, but the extensive and time-consuming nature of this ‘cut and sew’ procedure prevented its widespread use. However, the curative potential of the Maze operation was recognized and inspired interventional electrophysiologists to attempt to reproduce the Maze procedure by means of transcatheter ablation techniques. Although never published as a full manuscript, the pioneering studies performed by John Swartz which . . . [Full Text of this Article]


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Related articles in EHJ:

A randomized double-blind study of epicardial left atrial cryoablation for permanent atrial fibrillation in patients undergoing mitral valve surgery: the SWEDish Multicentre Atrial Fibrillation study (SWEDMAF)
Carina Blomström-Lundqvist, Birgitta Johansson, Eva Berglin, Leif Nilsson, Steen M. Jensen, Stefan Thelin, Anders Holmgren, Nils Edvardsson, Göran Källner, and Per Blomström
EHJ 2007 28: 2902-2908. [Abstract] [FREE Full Text]