Abstract： Objective To explore a new videoassisted thoracoscopic surgical treatment for lone atrial fibrillation, in order to seek better efficacy, reduce invasiveness, and devise an easiertooperate surgical treatment for atrial fibrillation. Methods In June 2011, 3 women aged 40 years, 60 years, and 66 years with lone atrial fibrillation were treated in the Cardiovascular Surgery Department of West China Hospital. The patients underwent a videoassisted thoracoscopic “Box Lesion” bipolar radiofrequency atrial fibrillation therapy (bilateral pulmonary vein + left atrial posterior wall isolation), including three 5 to 10 mm small incisions on each side of the chest wall. The complications and sinus rhythm maintenance of the patients were observed. Results The operative times were 140 min, 170 min, and 155 min. The three patients were in sinus rhythm immediately after the surgery. Mean blood loss was approximately 80 ml, mean intensive care unit (ICU) stay was 1 day, and average hospital stay was 7 days. No deaths and serious complications occurred. The three patients were still in sinus rhythm one week and one month after the operation, as measured by electrocardiogram. Conclusion Box Lesion bipolar radiofrequency treatment for atrial fibrillation therapy shows fast postoperative recovery. It is a promising procedure in atrial fibrillation treatment and is worthy of further study.
Objective To evaluate the clinical effects of bi-polar radiofrequency ablation (BRFA) for the surgical treatment of atrial fibrillation (AF) in rheumatic heart disease (RHD) patients. Methods We involved 96 RHD patients who underwent valve replacement in Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, West China Hospital from July 2014 through May 2015. There were 74 patients with AF, 22 in sinus rhythm. All patients with AF were fully informed of BRFA, in which 40 of the 74 patients received while the other 34 patients refused. The 40 patients with AF who received BRFA were classified into a treatment group and the other 34 patients were classified into a control group. The 20 patients with sinus rhythm were classified into a blank group as well. The clinical effect and quality of life of the patients were analyzed. Results Left atrial diameter (LAD), pulmonary arterial systolic pressure (PASP), and conversion rate of sinus rhythm at discharge, maintenance rate of sinus rhythm during follow-up in patients with AF were significantly higher than those in the patients in sinus rhythm. No difference was found in terms of survival rate, mortality, major complications among the three groups. The treatment group experienced higher scores in physical functioning (PF), role-physical (RP), general health (GH), vitality (VT), social functioning (SF), mental health (MH), physical component summary (PCS), mental component summary(MCS) and total score compared with the control group both at postoperative 3-month and 6-month . At postoperative 12-month, the treatment group experienced higher scores in PF, RP, GH, PCS, and total score compared with the control group. Conclusion AF would enhance the negative impact on structure remodeling in RHD patients. BRFA is beneficial for the conversion and maintaining of sinus rhythm in RHD patients and the decreasing of LAD & PASP parameter as well. BRFA is more beneficial for the improvement of quality of life in RHD patients with AF during one-year follow-up.