A tailored anatomical approach to prevent complications during left atrial ablation

Atrial fibrillation ablation surgery has grown very popular in recent years. Modem techniques involve creation of linear scars on the left atrial wall using different ablation devices. That raises the concern about new major surgical complications that can be caused by the ablation procedure. Postablation coronary obstruction and esophageal injury have been described. We report our present strategy for left atrial ablation in which the lesion set is tailored to the specific coronary anatomy. Safeguards to prevent esophageal and bronchial injury are also outlined. (C) 2003 by The Society of Thoracic Surgeons.