Follow-up
The median follow-up period after CA was 3.6±3.2 years (median, 2.1
years; IQR, 0.89-6.84). The Kaplan-Meier analysis of freedom from atrial
arrhythmia after the Maze procedure was 79.9% at 1-year follow-up and
69.3% at 4-year follow-up. AADs were taken after CA in 20 cases
(54.1%). There were no complications throughout the entire period in
this study. There were 2 unsuccessful cases in the first session, in
which 1 was septal AT and 1 was M-AFL. Twelve cases had recurrence after
CA, and 4 of them underwent CA twice. Patients 28, 29, 36, and 38
experienced recurrence (10.8% of 37 cases), and CA was performed again.
All four cases reached the endpoint in the second session, and no
recurrence of atrial arrhythmia was observed in Patients 36 and 38
(Fig 4 ). The remaining 8 cases were not willing to undergo CA
twice and had a good course of AADs.