New Procedure for A fib MINI MAZE

[Tjoyce]

I have read about the new cure of Atrial fibrilation/arrhythmia developed by Dr. Wolf in Cincinnati called Mini Maze.  I suggest you all google this and it looks extremely promising.  I am waiting for doctor's in my state of NJ to learn how to perform this so my husband can have this done.  It sounds like the cure that everybody has been waiting for.  

[Jerry_NJ]

This is a copy of the post I made to "bonana" on the same subject.

--copy
I take it you are talking about a robotic min-maze.   Open heart surgery for mini-maze is a bit risky and not normally done unless there are other reasons, e.g., repair a valve.  That's what happened to me in November 2007.  The surgery was to repair a mitral valve, and as I also suffered from AFib (may have been caused by the leaky mitral valve) a mini-maze was done.  Following surgery and for about a month after I was in sinus rhythm, but that ended.

The effectiveness of the maze is less than 100% and in fact get to be rather poor odds for those of us who have had full-time AFib and also have an enlarged left atrial.  I believe mine is about 5.4 cm, anything over 5 cm is problematic.

Not trying to put the procedure down, just putting in the reality I know.

Let us know what you decide and how it goes if you have the procedure done
--end

[Tjoyce]

Hi and thank you for commenting about this procedure.  Please tell me if this is the procedure invented by Dr. Wolf in Cincinnati and is performed laproscopically?  If so, I am very glad you provided me with more info.  Where did you have this done if it was the mini maze?

[twinbee]

In 2008 I had the option of the mini maze or ablation. I talked to several people who had the maze done and where happy with the results. I also talked with people who had it done and were not happy with the results. I did the same with the ablation procedure. After much research on both procedures, I decided to have the ablation done at Univ of Penn in January 08. I have been in NSR ever since. Which ever procedure you decide to have, just make sure you go to one of the best EP preforming it. I personally think the better the EP, the better the outcome.

[JMDEEJAY]

I HAD LAPROSCOPIC MAZE PROCEDURE IN JAN. 2009. I AM IN AND OUT OF AFIB. A FEW DAYS OF EACH AT A TIME. I HAD A REACTION TO THE AMIODORONE THAT THEY LIKE TO KEEP YOU ON FOR A FEW MONTHS POST SURGERY. I AM NOW AWAITING THE START OF ANOTHER DRUG, SOTALOL, THIS HAS TO BE STARTED IN A HOSPITAL SETTING.  SO, I HAVE TO BE IN THE HOSPITAL FOR THREE DAYS AT THE BEGINNING OF THAT MEDICINE. I GUESS THE JURY'S STILL OUT LONG TERM, BUT I HAD THE "FOREMOST" SURGEON IN THE FIELD DO THE PROCEDURE.

[Jerry_NJ]

Thanks for the follow-up post on this subject.  Keep us posted on your progress.

I'll make a correction on my post on this thread... I think a normal larger left atrial is 4 cm diameter.. and mine was 5.11 following my open heart surgery mini-maze and mitral valve repair.  It turns out the maze didn't stop my AFib, went back into it about 30 days after surgery. I was not on any strong drugs, just light dose Propafenone (Rhythmol).  

I had a two year follow-up echocardiogram last week and all was well, and some good news, my atrial diameter is down to 4.5 cm, so I may be back in the game for more attempts to stop the AFig.  The good-news, bad-news, in my case is I am mostly symptom-free (other than some fatigue from the medication I think) and I am in permanent AFib and have been for almost 2 years.