Thirty years of atrial fibrillation treated with a single flush
Atrial fibrillation successfully treated with flushing radiofrequency ablation at Union Hospital
Recently, a patient with rheumatic heart disease combined with atrial fibrillation underwent a successful valve replacement surgery at the Union Hospital, and atrial fibrillation, which had tormented him for nearly 30 years, was completely eliminated using a new technology. He said happily that he did not expect to be able to get rid of atrial fibrillation for 30 years in one go.
According to Prof. Xia Jiahong, this patient is the hundredth patient in our hospital to receive this type of surgery. The vast majority of valvular diseases are combined with atrial fibrillation. The mechanism is that there are too many excess pathways in the atria, making the heart beat completely irregularly. Atrial fibrillation is by far the most common persistent tachyarrhythmia in clinical practice, and its incidence increases with age. The annual incidence of atrial fibrillation in China is 8 million people. The main hazard of atrial fibrillation is the increased risk of thromboembolism. Patients with atrial fibrillation have a 5-fold increased incidence of stroke and a 2-fold increased mortality rate compared to non-atrial fibrillation patients, and long-term atrial fibrillation can lead to tachycardia cardiomyopathy, which affects heart function.
Atrial fibrillation treatment is the weak link in the current treatment of arrhythmia diseases. Commonly used therapies such as drugs are ineffective or limited in their application. The traditional catheter technique, on the other hand, can significantly reduce or eliminate atrial fibrillation episodes in more than 70% of patients, but it is prone to pulmonary vein stenosis and the risk of complications.
This new surgical approach implemented is based on the traditional maze surgical method, applying an electric knife flushed with water that is able to generate high temperature locally in the excess pathways of the heart without damaging the patient’s heart, short-circuiting the excess pathways and eliminating atrial fibrillation from the root, allowing the heart to stop bouncing around.
Surgical treatment of atrial fibrillation is performed at the same time as valve disease surgery, eliminating the patient’s atrial fibrillation and restoring sinus rhythm. This improves the patient’s cardiac function and reduces the incidence of thrombosis, bringing a boon to patients with atrial fibrillation disease.