Atrial fibrillation (AF) is present in 40%-60% of patients with rheumatic mitral valve disease (RMVD), which is an independent predictor of mortality and late stroke. During mitral valve (MV) surgery, the open left atrium facilitates a bi-atrial ablation procedure. However, a simplified lesion set including isolated pulmonary vein isolation or posterior left atrial (LA) wall isolation or LA maze was usually applied. The current literatures provide insufficient evidence to determine the potential benefits of bi-atrial ablation procedure when comparing with LA ablation procrdure in patients with non-paroxysmal AF and RMVD.~Patients with RMVD often have longer history, which tends to affect the right atrium, including pulmonary hypertension or tricuspid regurgitation.The necessity of bi-atrial ablation procedure targeting the bi-atrial substrate for AF in RMVD requires to be explored. In this study, we aimed to compare the efficacy of bi-atrial ablation with LA ablation for AF during MV surgery in patients with RMVD.
This study is aimed to compare the efficacy of bi-atrial ablation with left atrial ablation for atrial fibrillation during mitral valve surgery in patients with rheumatic mitral valve disease.