Lateral placement of bipolar clamp facilitates pulmonary vein isolation.

The surgical management of atrial fibrillation is becoming more commonplace with the procedure of pulmonary vein isolation forming the cornerstone of the treatment of atrial fibrillation. In this article a technique is described to introduce a dry bipolar radiofrequency clamp into the chest through a lateral port sized incision to safely effect pulmonary vein isolation in patients with low ejection fractions undergoing a concomitant mini-maze procedure. Confirmation of the transmurality and effectiveness of the lines of ablation is shown by the demonstration of bidirectional block to and from the pulmonary veins.