Adjunctive Atrial Fibrillation Therapy With Off-Pump Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting: Standard of Care?

Objectives: To validate the safety and applicability of a previously unreported innovative technique: bipolar epicardial radiofrequency pulmonary vein ablation for the treatment of atrial fibrillation (AF) in conjunction with off-pump coronary artery bypass surgery. Methods: After the completion of off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting (OPCAB) via sternotomy, patients underwent epicardial pulmonary vein ablation using a bipolar radiofrequency clamp placed on the left atrial cuff. The left atrial appendage was removed or excluded in all patients. Results: Fifteen patients (aged 59-81 years) were treated and reviewed. An average of 2.8 +/- 1 grafts were performed per patient; all patients received left internal mammary artery grafts. All sets of pulmonary veins were encircled successfully and ablated. Four patients had additional lesions placed. No patient had pulmonary vein injury. There were no reoperations for bleeding and no mortality. Preoperatively, AF was continuous in 4 patients and intermittent in 11; 10 patients were taking Coumadin preoperatively and 11 were taking antiarrhythmic drugs (AAD). At the follow-up evaluation (7.6 +/- 4.4 months; range 1-16 months), 12 patients (80%) are in sinus rhythm (100% in the intermittent AF group, 25% in the continuous AF group); Coumadin has been discontinued in 5 of 10 patients (50% reduction) and AAD have been discontinued in 7 of 11 patients (74% reduction). Conclusions: Bipolar radiofrequency epicardial pulmonary vein ablation can be safely and reproducibly used for the treatment of AF in conjunction with OPCAB. Patients with intermittent AF should be strongly considered for adjunctive treatment at the time of OPCAB.