Late Results of Cox Maze III Procedure in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation Associated with Structural Heart Disease.

Background: Cox-Maze III procedure is one of the surgical techniques used in the surgical treatment of atrial fibrillation (AF).

Objectives: To determine late results of Cox-Maze III in terms of maintenance of sinus rhythm, and mortality and stroke rates.

Methods: Between January 2006 and January 2013, 93 patients were submitted to the cut-and-sew Cox-Maze III procedure in combination with structural heart disease repair.

[Treatment of pulmonary vein stenosis after percutaneous ablation of atrial fibrillation].

This case report describes a patient with persistent atrial fibrillation (AF) submitted to radiofrequency catheter ablation of AF through the pulmonary vein antrum isolation technique, who developed a severe stenosis of the left superior pulmonary vein (LSPV), without presenting any symptoms. The diagnosis of the PV stenosis was made by a routine postprocedure computed tomography scan of the left atrium, and the patient was subsequently submitted to angioplasty with stenting of the LSPV, resulting in the normalization of pulmonary perfusion, as seen by ventilation/perfusion scan made three months after the LSPV angioplasty.