Surgical ablation of arrhythmias

The surgical approach was the earliest therapeutic ablation of hyperkinetic arrhythmias. Following the progressive improvements in electrophysiological mapping and operative techniques, new surgical approaches have been developed for the treatment of those arrhythmias related to ectopic phenomena or reentry mechanisms. These procedures have been proven to be highly effective but the associated morbidity and mortality were unacceptably high. More recent and advanced techniques of transcatheter ablation have revolutionized the treatment of these arrhythmias and now represent the treatment of choice in the majority of cases. However, the significant reduction in the operative risk and the improvement in patient outcome with respect to the past, thanks to a better patient selection and to advances in the surgical and myocardial protection techniques, make do that the surgical approach to some forms of arrhythmias is still valid, especially in those cases requiring associated surgery: atrial tachyarrhythmias in patients with congenital heart disease, post-ischemic ventricular tachycardias in patients who necessitate myocardial revascularization, and/or ventricular remodeling and chronic or paroxysmal atrial fibrillation in patients who require cardiac surgery. New techniques such as radiofrequency, microwaves and cryoablation guarantee the creation of linear and transmural lesions with minimum damage to the cardiac structures and appear very interesting as they are surgically simple and associated with shorter procedure times and less complications. The possibility of performing the ablative procedure completely on the epicardial surface may open the way for atrial fibrillation surgery on a totally beating heart and for procedures that are ever less invasive thus enabling treatment of patients without associated surgical indications.