Annals Animated (May 2024)

Societal guidelines support concomitant management of atrial fibrillation (AF) in patients undergoing cardiac surgery. To assess real-world adoption and outcomes, this study evaluated Medicare beneficiaries with AF who underwent isolated coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) with surgical ablation (SA) or left atrial appendage obliteration (LAAO) or both procedures in combination (SA + LAAO). A total of 19,524 patients with preoperative AF who underwent isolated CABG were stratified by SA + LAAO (3,475 patients; 17.8%), LAAO only (4,541 patients; 23.3%), or no AF treatment (11,508 patients; 58.9%). In Medicare beneficiaries with AF who underwent isolated CABG, concomitant AF treatment was associated with reduced 3-year readmission for stroke. SA + LAAO was associated with superior reduction in stroke or death at 3 years compared with LAAO alone or no AF treatment. These contemporary real-world data aid operative clinical decision-making by further clarifying the longitudinal benefits of concomitant treatment of AF during CABG surgery.
Read the accompanying article in The Annals of Thoracic Surgery: www.annalsthor...

[@alvaroalbrecht]

Great video, even better results.