Surgical treatment of chronic atrial fibrillation: Report of 8 cases.

Since February 2003, we have conducted surgical treatment on 8 patients complicated with chronic atrial fibrillation during cardiac surgery. A radial procedure was conducted on 7 patients, and pulmonary vein isolation was conducted on 1 patient. Underlying diseases included mitral regurgitation (MR) in 5 patients, mitral stenosis (MS) in 1 patient, aortic stenosis (AS) + MS in 1 patient and chronic type A dissociation in 1 patient. Simultaneous procedures included mitral valve plasty (MVP) in 3 patients, mitral valve replacement (MVR) in 3 patients, aortic valve replacement (AVR) + MVR in 1 patient, and aortic root reconstruction by reimplantation procedure + total arch replacement in 1 patient. The operation time was 320 to 840 minutes and 458.1± 171.1 minutes on average. The cardiopulmonary bypass time was 204 to 404 minutes and 266.7 ± 62.7 minutes on average. The aortic cross-clamp time was 142 to 271 minutes and 171± 41.5 minutes on average. One patient died in hospital. Six patients returned to sinus rhythm, and 1 patient required pacemaker implantation. The follow-up period was 2 to 37 months and 13.6 ± 15 months on average. When cryoablation was changed to radiofrequency ablation to assist preparation of the block line, a tendency toward shortening of the aortic clamping time was observed.