Surgical Ablation

Surgical ablation, or the simplified Maze procedure, is a much less invasive option from the original Maze procedure.

This newer surgery is performed through a small incision. The patient's heart continues to beat so there is no need for a heart-lung machine. And in order to make new paths for the electrical current in the heart, heat is delivered by a high intensity focused ultrasound in a device approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

Because this procedure is new to the United States, there is not much evidence of its success rate for treating AFIB, but we do know that it has been highly successful in Europe.

In fact, research shows that 80 to 90 percent of patients were cured after the simplified Maze and off of their medications after only six months.