Posted by steve giddings on August 06, 2002 at 08:02:24:
In Reply to: Re: Mother's A-fib posted by Carl Plaskett on August 05, 2002 at 05:49:41:
The maze procedure is still open heart surgery that requires the patient to go on full cardiopulmonary bypass. While patients in your mother’s age bracket do go through this successfully, I don’t think that at that age, a surgeon would do anything that aggressive unless it were an acute lifesaving procedure to correct a problem for which there were little alternative. Examples include coronary artery disease or valvular heart disease with very significant symptoms.
I have thought about this both professionally and personally, I have a family member who is about the same age with a fib, probably limited to some degree but able to do most favored activities, compliant with coumadin. I have had the experience of dealing with very healthy elderly people who require major surgery. The rate of medical complications is quite high. Often problems develop in systems where the potential for problems was not identified prior, but brought out by increased/demands/stress of surgery. That being said, you can’t make an adequate assessment without knowing the individual and the particular circumstances.
You can have a pacemaker and still have the maze.