Surgical Procedures
As in catheter-based procedures, techniques using heating or cooling temperatures may be used to treat arrhythmias during heart surgery. Techniques also exist where incisions are used in the open heart to interrupt abnormal electrical conduction (Maze procedure). Cryosurgery involves the use of freezing techniques for the treatment of arrhythmias during surgery.
A physician may recommend cryosurgery being used during the course of heart surgery as a secondary procedure to treat any arrhythmia that was present or that may appear during the primary openchest procedure. The most common heart operations in which cryosurgery may be used in this way are mitral valve repairs and coronary artery bypass grafting. During the procedure, a flexible cryoprobe is placed on or around the heart and delivers cold energy that disables tissue responsible for conducting the arrhythmia.
Read more about this topic: Cryoablation
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