The European Society of Cardiology (ESC) and the European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery (EACTS) have recently updated and published the 2024 ESC guidelines for the management of atrial fibrillation. Based on the latest evidences, the guidelines have been updated in many aspects, such as diagnostic criteria for atrial fibrillation, AF-CARE treatment principles, comorbidities and risk factor management. In particular, there are significant changes in the recommendations for surgical management of atrial fibrillation in the guidelines. Therefore, this paper aims to interpret the content updates of the guidelines in AF-CARE treatment principles, diagnostic criteria and surgical treatment of atrial fibrillation, especially highlighting the updates and new suggestions about surgical treatment of atrial fibrillation.
[Abstract]Atrial fibrillation is one of the most common arrhythmias and significantly increases the risk of stroke, and the left atrial appendage is the main source of thrombus. Therefore, the management of the left atrial appendage in the surgical treatment of atrial fibrillation can effectively prevent stroke. However, there are various strategies to manage the left atrial appendage, each with advantages and disadvantages, and their effect of stroke prevention are not the same. Therefore, we evaluated the three most common surgical strategies, including left atrial appendage resection, left atrial appendage ligation and left atrial appendage clamp. We discussed the effect of these strategies on stroke prevention based on multiple dimensions such as surgical difficulty, surgical cost and postoperative stroke incidence, thus trying to provide some guidance for the selection of left atrial appendage treatment in patients with atrial fibrillation.
Currently, in precision cardiac surgery, there are still some pressing issues that need to be addressed. For example, cardiopulmonary bypass remains a critical factor in precise surgical treatment, and many core aspects still rely on the experience and subjective judgment of cardiopulmonary bypass specialists and surgeons, lacking precise data feedback. With the increasing elderly population and rising surgical complexity, precise feedback during cardiopulmonary bypass becomes crucial for improving surgical success rates and facilitating high-complexity procedures. Overcoming these key challenges requires not only a solid medical background but also close collaboration among multiple interdisciplinary fields. Establishing a multidisciplinary team encompassing professionals from the medical, information, software, and related industries can provide high-quality solutions to these challenges. This article shows several patents from a collaborative medical and electronic information team, illustrating how to identify unresolved technical issues and find corresponding solutions in the field of precision cardiac surgery while sharing experiences in applying for invention patents.