Experience with various surgical options for the treatment of atrial fibrillation.

Early experience with the newer surgical techniques suggests that they may yield results comparable to traditional cut and sew Cox-Maze III procedures but with fewer incision lines. Introduction Atrial fibrillation continues to be a continuing problem with post-operative occurrence rates from approximately 15 to 35%. Various new procedures have been introduced to treat both lone atrial fibrillation and concomitant occurrences. These include uni-polar and bipolar radiofrequency and cryothermy ablation techniques.