Treating AF - A look at Cox Maze IV procedure

My interest is surgery, and this post will give a quick look at the Cox-Maze procedure. The goal of the procedure is to treat atrial fibrilation (AF), which is a cardiac arrhythmia. The physical contraction of heart muscle results from conduction of electrical signal over the muscle. The heart has pathways that guide the signal from SA node down to the ventricles. In AF this conduction is disrupted in the atria, resulting in abnormal heartbeat.

Surgical Procedure
In the 1980s James Cox, MD developed a procedure that involved making scars on the atria in a certain pattern such that normal electrical signal conduction would be restored (The pattern of these scars resembles a maze). The original procedure was called Cox-Maze III, and was quite challenging. The latest advancement came in 2006, when surgeons from University of Washington, St. Louis integrated bipolar radiofrequency device, in what became known as Cox-Maze IV. The procedure uses radiofrequency to create scars, instead of the manual incisions and suturing.

Read the journal article, The Cox-Maze IV procedure for lone atrial fibrillation for an in-depth discussion.

image source: Ecardio.org