Keisuke Suzuki

and 17 more

Introduction: There are few reports of the characteristics, mechanisms, and outcomes of atrial tachycardia (AT) and atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation after cardiac surgery and concomitant Maze procedures. This study investigated the mechanisms and long-term outcomes of AT and AF ablation after various Maze procedures, especially we examined in detail whether the arrhythmia after Maze procedure was due to gap or not. Methods and Results: We analyzed 37 consecutive cases with AT and AF after cardiac surgery and Maze procedure between 2007 and 2019. Fifty-nine atrial arrythmias were induced in 37 consecutive cases, and 49 of those atrial arrythmias were mappable ATs. Forty-two ATs was related to the Maze procedure in the 49 mappable ATs (87.5%). All 37 consecutive cases had residual electrical conductions (gaps) in the Maze lines (88 gaps; 2.4±1.2 gaps/patient). Forty-two of 88 gaps (47.7%) were associated with gap-related ATs. The most common gap-related ATs in this study were peri-mitral atrial flutter in 22 cases. The median follow-up period after ablation was 3.6±3.2 years (median, 2.1 years; interquartile range, 0.89-6.84). The Kaplan-Meier analysis of freedom from recurrent atrial arrhythmia after Maze procedure was 79.9% at 1-year follow up and 69.3% at 4-year follow up. Conclusions: Reentry was the main mechanism of AT after cardiac surgery and concomitant various Maze procedures, and AT were largely related to the gap in the Maze line between mitral valve anulus and pulmonary vein isolation line. Catheter ablation of AT after various Maze procedures seemed to be effective and safe during long-term follow-up.