Abstract
A 62-year-old man was diagnosed as having atrial septal defect (ASD) and atrial fibrillation (Af) upon admission to our hospital with acute myocardial infarction. He was placed on medication for 3 years but surgery was considered necessary because of the further complication of angina pectoris. Coronary arterial bypass grafting, ASD closure and right atrial separation procedure which was a modification of the right-sided maze operation, were performed simultaneously. Although chronic Af disappeared immediately after surgery, it reappeared on the 8th postoperative day, and medicinal and electrical defibrillation had no effect. We considered that the main cause of Af accompanied by ASD had existed in the right atrium before surgery. Also, as the right atrial separation procedure was less invasive than the Cox/maze procedure for such complications in patients with ischemic heart disease, we chose this method. In our patient, postoperative left ventricular loading was considered to have been the cause of Af recurrence. Therefore the indications for this procedure should be decided carefully in patients with preoperative left ventricular hypofunction or left atrial dilatation.
