‘Mediterranean’ technique against atrial fibrillation

It has been published in the ‘Journal of Cardiovascular Electrophysiology’, official journal of the World Society of Electrophysiology, “an important work describing for the first time the Meditereanea Technique, a technique for the endo / epicardial ablation of atrial fibrillation, developed by Mediterranean Clinic of Naples in collaboration with the Neuromed network “. The method, explains a note, “allows you to hit the cells not only from inside the heart (endocardium), as in traditional ablations, but also from the outside (epicardium)”. “The advantage is considerable”, explain the creators. “Success in maintaining sinus rhythm goes from 60% of the classic transcatheter (endocardial) ablations to 90% with the Meditereanea Technique (endo / epicardial). Even when compared to other endo / epicardial ablations, the so-called hybrid ablations, the advantages of Meditereanea Techinique are evident “. First of all, “the Meditereanea Techinique does not require large cuts on the chest and does not pass through the pleura. The access of the Meditereanea Techinique consists of a cut one centimeter below the breastbone”. Another advantage is that “the Meditereanea Technique is performed in a single operating session, while the other hybrid ablations require two different operations at different times”. Finally, “the Meditereanea Technique is the first technique in the world to use electroanatomical mapping both in the endocardium and in the epicardium. While in the other hybrid ablations the burns are done only on the basis of an anatomical criterion, in the Meditereanea Technique the ablation is more targeted and precise because it uses the electrical mapping systems of the heart “.” This discovery – comments Giuseppe De Martino, head of the Arrhythmology centers of numerous clinics located in Southern Italy including the Mediterranean Clinic of Naples and others of the Neuromed group – is really revolutionary since finally, 25 years after the introduction of ablation in the treatment of atrial fibrillation, during which the success rate was now 60-70%, we finally managed to raise it to 90% “. “To understand the problem of atrial fibrillation – exemplifies the specialist – we need to think of a war against ‘rebel’ heart cells. The more they are eliminated, the better. For 25 years the ablations have always and only been aimed at internal areas of the heart. , the pulmonary veins, where an important part of rebel cells lodge. The great novelty of our discovery was that we were able to identify two other areas full of rebel cells, which were well hidden on the outside of the heart, and to have found a minimally invasive way to reach and eliminate them “.