Posted by Jack Drum on November 22, 2001 at 21:59:55:
In Reply to: Re: HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL, AND FOR ALL OUR BLESSINGS THIS YEAR. posted by Bill Gorman on November 22, 2001 at 19:06:09:
Bill I think the Cox/Maze procedure evolution was probably started by the first surgeon who learned the procedure from Dr. James L. Cox. This is known as progress, (not always good, but progress anyway), and eventually leads to a better way of doing something.
The surgeon that did my surgery added his own variations as he put it. There are some modifications that I personally don't believe were good, and one that the origionator tried that failed miserably.
You may see a lot of "I think, and I believes" in this post so check out to your own satisification everything you read here.
I truely believe that most all the surgeons that are doing the Maze Procedure are the most brilliant, imaginative, and dedicated surgeons going. If you check you will find many different variations of the maze.
Most of the variations are in the method of establishing a insulator, or barrier to stop the errant impulses that cause AF, while leaving intact the heart's ability to function as it was meant to do. They are also trying to reduce the operations time demands. The less time on the table, and on the pump is better for the patient and surgeon as well. The cut and sew method takes a lot of time compared to some of the other means, but in my opinion it is more reliable for a quicker cure of the fibrillation.
Some use the RF tip to ablate lesions in the heart
Some use liquid nitrogen in the cryo surgical tips to make the lesions.
The newest and still without much history is the microwave tips. They use a tip with two microwave antenna that transmitts microwave energy between them that heats the tissue up to about 130 degree and forms the barrier. This method is fast, accurate, allows about half to be done off the bypass, and maybe later completely off the pump. Hopefully it will be a huge improvement. There are a very few surgeons using the microwave at this time. We have one, and soon will have the second listed on the board.
I hope this helps some, but remember I'm a old man who does this just trying to be of some help, so check everything out.
PS: But there will be no name change.