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Review of Recent Books

Manual of Surgical Treatment of Atrial Fibrillation

Edited by Hauw T. Sie, Giuseppe D'Ancona, Fabio Bartolozzi, Willem P. Beukema, Donald B. Doty. 2008, Malden, Massachusetts, Blackwell Futura, 256 pp, illustrated, $99.95 ISBN: 978 1 4051 4032 4

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

With the increasing number of patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) undergoing ablative procedures by surgeons and electrophysiologists, there was a void for a book entirely dedicated to the management of this arrhythmia. This multi-author text, written by a truly international group of experts from eleven different countries, fills this gap. Despite its title, this book in reality covers anatomic, electrophysiological, medical, and surgical aspects of AF.

The book is divided into five parts. In the first part, the chapter on anatomy by Anderson is a must read for all students of AF. It is superbly written and supplemented with 36 color slides (plates), which add further strength to its wealth of information regarding the atrial anatomy and provides the necessary background for the following chapters. In the subsequent chapters, the reviews of pathophysiology by Brugada, electrophysiology by Allessie, and focal theory of AF by Haissaguerre, all experts in their fields, provide further clarification to the complex nature of AF.

Section III covers the surgical treatment of AF and describes various modifications of the Cox maze III operation, including the energy sources currently used to create the atrial lesion set. Each author has described his technique and presented his series. Chapter 10 is entitled "the Mini-maze operation," which is a bit misleading because it does not describe a minimally invasive approach as is discussed in chapter 17 of the book.

Part IV is dedicated to an invasive cardiologist approach to AF. Pappone has described his vast experience with catheter ablation of AF in over 8,000 patients. The following chapter on surgical ablation of arrhythmias in congenital heart diseases, both atrial and ventricular, and especially after surgical correction of congenital cardiac defects, is a great source of information for surgeons dealing with this group of patients. The final chapter in the book covers perioperative complications of surgical treatment of AF. The troublesome post-ablation atrial tachycardia, however, is not addressed.

This book provides a wealth of information by authors with large experiences in the treatment of AF. I was surprised to see the term "chronic" used in this book (chapters 10, 12, and 17) rather than the currently accepted terminology for describing the various types of AF. The introduction part to most chapters in section III is a repetition of describing the complexity of the classic Cox maze procedure. The histology photographs in chapter 11 would have been more informative had they been in color. There are many typographic errors throughout the book including the text, tables, and bibliographies. As an example, Fig 13.4 is a duplication of Figure 13.3. Let us hope that the editors will correct these deficiencies in the next edition.

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Personal Folders Download to citation manager Author home page(s): G. Hossein Almassi Permission Requests Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Almassi, G. H. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Almassi, G. H.