Post- TT Maze procedure (trans-thoracoscopic Maze ablation)

I have been reading about this procedure. It seems to be statistically very successful for people in your situation. Please keep us posted about your progress.

I saw pictures of this procedure, and read the description. I realize you were out cold, but you know that it says you have to be on a heart/lung machine while they do this? What side effects do you feel now? Tell me about recovery….just the incisions? Internal healing too?

I wish you speedy recovery and an end to Afib!

Hello, and thanks for the good wishes!
For the thoracoscopic Maze, a heart-lung machine is not needed. I believe that's only needed for the full (sternotomy) procedure. They did sequentially deflate and reinflate my lungs to provide access.

I have several "keyhole" incisions that are healing well. However, the arrhythmias continue as the inflamed and injured heart tissue heals. I realize that I am only two weeks out from the surgery, but of course I am anxious for relief. Patience is the order of the day. They say it takes 3-8 weeks to feel fully recovered and have energy back.

Looking forward to a good outcome.

Yes, keep us updated!

Thought I would post an update at the 4-week mark after my TT Maze procedure. I am definitely doing better! Objectively, this is the longest I have gone without an a-fib episode in years. I am still having some hours-long episodes of atrial ectopics (PACs) but believe those will continue to diminish. My energy is mostly returned and incisions mostly healed. I am glad I took the risk and made the effort to have this procedure. It has given me hope for relief from a-fib - if not permanently so, at least for a time. I would urge others who have been in the long-term arrhythmia battle to look into this possibility, too.

Here will be the final update. I am five months out from my TT Maze surgery (in which scar tissue is created on the outside surface of the heart, in comparison to ablation, in which the scar tissue is created inside the atria.) The outcome is better than I allowed myself to dream it would be. My episodes of atrial fibrillation, which before the surgery were happening every five days or so for several hours at a time, have ceased. I have not had any a-fib in two months. Other atrial arrhythmias (PACs, bigeminy) which used to disrupt nearly every day and night are now negligible. You would not know I had this life-changing surgery but for (six) 1/2" scars on my torso.

I am infused with new energy and confidence, and GRATITUDE for the medical professionals at Brigham & Women's Hospital in Boston who suggested this surgery to me and helped me through it. If there is anyone in this forum who is looking for relief from a-fib and is ready to consider this surgical alternative, feel free to reply in this conversation and I will be happy to provide more information.

Hi Jenrev,

I'm glad that the procedure has worked well for you! I had (then called a convergent) back in 12/21 with an internal touchup the following March. I had persistent AF that 2 cryo's and multiple cardioversions could not treat. AF-free since then!

Terry

Hi Jenrev...
I had a TT maze procedure done in 2002. It was very experimental at the time. The cardiologist who did it had only done one before me. After 2 years of struggling with lone paroxysmal AFib, having to quit work and go on medical disability, I wanted my life back. I was told the Maze procedure was 90% effective in eliminating afib, so I went for it. Unfortunately, it did not work. It took me about a year to recuperate, and I learned later the doc had zapped my heart with the wrong stuff (radio frequency?). I was not educated about afib at the time and I think that cardiologist was not even an EP.
So I struggled on for another 10 years. No medications helped. It got to the point where I was passing out during my days-long AFib episodes. After many hospitalizations and ambulance rides (even had to be hospitalized and on a trip to England), and two ablations after the Maze procedure... The last one in 2014 worked! I was afib free for 10 years.
Currently I'm experiencing many bothersome PACs and runs of tach. Irritating, but not as bad as my 12 years dealing with a fib.
I am an otherwise active, healthy and fit 75-year-old woman.
You are the only other person I have heard of that has had a Maze procedure. I'm happy to hear your results are good. They must have figured out how to do it by now.

Cathy, I have to say I am glad to meet another patient who received the TT Maze treatment. You are the only person I have "met" who has. Yes, indeed, our experiences are not the same, given the 20+ years in between the time of our procedures and not doubt technological improvements in that time. But you were a trailblazer!

I am glad that your final ablation was curative. My experience was the opposite. I had 5 ablations first, all of which worked for a time, but didn't stay corrective, nor did medication. I think and hope this surgery is the last one I will need. (And yes, I too still have moments and hours of on/off PACs which I am trying to learn to just ignore and banish from my mind!) No a-fib for 67 days now, and the longest I have gone without it for probably 20 years.

I honor and applaud all of us who, when we get our lives tangled in these arrhythmias, fight on with science and hope and our will to have a better life. Blessings to all. JR

Hi Jenrev!
Happy to hear of your success!! Thank you for posting your story and for providing updates. There is not much information on this procedure on the web so I appreciate hearing your experience.

I had the maze procedure 11 days ago on June 28,2024.
Happy to say that I have not been in Afib since the procedure but I also understand that it can take up to 6 months to be sure the procedure work.

I too had the 6 incisions like you with the ablation on the outside of the heart. 3 years prior I had the ablation on the inside of the heart, but after being on Tikosyn for 3 hrs it no longer kept me out of Afib so thats when my EP referred me to the CT surgeon for the maze procedure.

I didn’t want to share too much more at this time as I’m only 2 weeks out from having the procedure but I did want to thank you again for sharing your story!

Good for you, Cathy! I'm glad you chose to move ahead with the procedure. Now, give yourself lots of time for your heart to settle out after the trauma it has been through. I still had many arrhythmias (both afib and ectopics) for about 4 months after the surgery. Then I went through a great period where I was still weaning off the Amiodarone and had almost nothing.

Alas, when the amio was fully out of my system, a few a-fib episodes started showing up again. My providers made the choice to put me back on Flecainide which I had been on for many years, and that has helped a lot. I consider the surgery to be a success, if not a "perfect success."
Take care of yourself during this healing time. We are all so different, we just need to do what is best for ourselves and be grateful for all improvements. Jen