Atrial fibrillation is an irregular and often fast heartbeat triggered from the upper heart chambers, the atria. Treating atrial fibrillation is important for several reasons. If you have a fast heartbeat, you may feel lightheaded, dizzy, and weak. An irregular heartbeat can also increase your risk for heart failure. It can cause blood clots, which can travel from your heart to your brain and cause a stroke. Atrial fibrillation is the most common arrhythmia in humans.
The atrial electrical signal in atrial fibrillation is extremely disorganized and very rapid. Under normal circumstances these chambers generate 60 impulses per minute, in atrial fibrillation they generate up to 400 impulses per minute. These signals normally generate a single smooth electrical wave triggering the heart to beat in an orderly fashion. In atrial fibrillation the wave is chaotic and does not allow the heart to beat in an organized fashion (see Figure 1). The atrial electrical signals trigger the lower heart chambers (ventricles) to pump faster and irregular, this makes your heartbeat faster and irregular. People with atrial fibrillation often have symptoms of fatigue, shortness of breath, chest tightness or lightheadedness.
Regaining the normal rhythm of a person’s heart rate is most often accomplished by medication or with an ablation procedure. However, surgical treatment can be used to correct atrial fibrillation when cardiac surgery has already been planned to treat other diseases such as severe blockages in the heart arteries or severe valvular heart disease.
The procedure is named MAZE because of a puzzle or maze-like pattern made in the heart during the surgery. The MAZE is done during open heart surgery often as an adjunct to other planned cardiac surgery procedures. The Maze procedure cures atrial fibrillation by interrupting the electrical impulses that cause the abnormal heart rhythm. Scar tissue forms to block the electrical impulses causing the atrial fibrillation from traveling through your heart and taking over control of the heart rhythm.