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Heart Disease (Expert Forum)
Re: Maze Procedure
This forum is for questions and support regarding heart issues such as: Angina, Angioplasty, Arrhythmia, Bypass Surgery, Cardiomyopathy, Coronary Artery Disease, Defibrillator, Heart Attack, Heart Disease, High Blood Pressure, Mitral Valve Prolapse, Pacemaker, PAD, Stenosis, Stress Tests.
Re: Maze Procedure
by CCF CARDIO MD APS, Jan 01, 1995 12:00AM
Posted By CCF CARDIO MD-APS on December 27, 1998 at 18:26:47:
In Reply to: Maze Procedure posted by Rob on December 22, 1998 at 23:22:11:
I am a 24 year old male that has been diagnosed with atrial fibrilation for the last 4 years. I have had a treatment done that shocked me back into normal rhythm but that only lasted one month before going back into AF. I am currently taken Atenol, Tenormin and Coumadin and my heart rate is at about 50 resting. I have gained about 30 pounds because of the lack of exercise. The medicine makes me extremely tired and can not keep the exercise up. My echocardiogram is normal but there are signs of "generous" size atrium. My doctor worries that my atrium will get larger.
He would like me to have the open heart maze procedure done to me to hopefully cure me. Mine and my wifes worry is that the procedure will be successful at first but since I am so young that the AF can come back sooner then we would hope. My doctor has said that the maze would be the only other method to try and cure this problem. Any suggestions
Rob
__
Dear Rob,
This maze procedure is moderately successful and success does not guarantee that you will not need to continue medical therapy afterwards. It is generally used when all else fails, so to speak and it has not gained much momentum as a treatment because it involves open heart surgery which carries real, albeit small risks to your life and lifestyle (mortality and morbidity respectively.)
If you have been evaluated by an electrophysiologist at a major medical center that cares for a number of patients with difficult to treat atrial fibrillation, and the cardiology team there said yes this is the only option, then it probably would be your next step Rob. Have you been tried on any other medications like flecanide or amiodarone? Just because you have symptoms on the beta blocker, atenolol, does not mean you will not tolerate other drugs.
Also keep in mind that there is currently experimental work being done on doing a maze like procedure from inside the heart, with catheters, that avoids open heart surgery altogether. This of course is only offered at a few centers in the country but it is something else you should discuss with your doctor.
I hope this information is useful. Information provided in the heart forum is for
general purposes only. Only your physician can provided specific diagnoses and therapies.
Feel free to write back with further questions. Good luck!
If you would like to make an appointment at the Cleveland Clinic Heart Center, please
call 1-800-CCF-CARE or inquire online by using the Heart Center website at
www.ccf.org/heartcenter. The Heart Center website contains a directory of the
cardiology staff that can be used to select the physician best suited to address your
cardiac problem.
In Reply to: Maze Procedure posted by Rob on December 22, 1998 at 23:22:11:
I am a 24 year old male that has been diagnosed with atrial fibrilation for the last 4 years. I have had a treatment done that shocked me back into normal rhythm but that only lasted one month before going back into AF. I am currently taken Atenol, Tenormin and Coumadin and my heart rate is at about 50 resting. I have gained about 30 pounds because of the lack of exercise. The medicine makes me extremely tired and can not keep the exercise up. My echocardiogram is normal but there are signs of "generous" size atrium. My doctor worries that my atrium will get larger.
He would like me to have the open heart maze procedure done to me to hopefully cure me. Mine and my wifes worry is that the procedure will be successful at first but since I am so young that the AF can come back sooner then we would hope. My doctor has said that the maze would be the only other method to try and cure this problem. Any suggestions
Rob
__
Dear Rob,
This maze procedure is moderately successful and success does not guarantee that you will not need to continue medical therapy afterwards. It is generally used when all else fails, so to speak and it has not gained much momentum as a treatment because it involves open heart surgery which carries real, albeit small risks to your life and lifestyle (mortality and morbidity respectively.)
If you have been evaluated by an electrophysiologist at a major medical center that cares for a number of patients with difficult to treat atrial fibrillation, and the cardiology team there said yes this is the only option, then it probably would be your next step Rob. Have you been tried on any other medications like flecanide or amiodarone? Just because you have symptoms on the beta blocker, atenolol, does not mean you will not tolerate other drugs.
Also keep in mind that there is currently experimental work being done on doing a maze like procedure from inside the heart, with catheters, that avoids open heart surgery altogether. This of course is only offered at a few centers in the country but it is something else you should discuss with your doctor.
I hope this information is useful. Information provided in the heart forum is for
general purposes only. Only your physician can provided specific diagnoses and therapies.
Feel free to write back with further questions. Good luck!
If you would like to make an appointment at the Cleveland Clinic Heart Center, please
call 1-800-CCF-CARE or inquire online by using the Heart Center website at
www.ccf.org/heartcenter. The Heart Center website contains a directory of the
cardiology staff that can be used to select the physician best suited to address your
cardiac problem.
