Surgical ablation during CABG increased survival in atrial fibrillation patients: Study

While the survival gains may appear modest on paper, the public health impact is substantial, given the high volume of CABG procedures and the prevalence of atrial fibrillation in older adults. This study argues that the findings support current guideline recommendations advocating for surgical ablation in AF patients undergoing CABG and spotlight a significant gap between evidence-based guidance and real-world practice.

In a detail examination, 652 surgeons (frequent ablation) performed the procedure in ≥40% of their CABG patients, 1834 surgeons (occasional ablation) performed it in 5–40% of cases and 1193 surgeons (infrequent ablation) did so in <5% of cases. These numbers suggest that a large proportion of cardiac surgeons either rarely or inconsistently offer this beneficial procedure.

As the study brought out, improving adherence to surgical ablation guidelines could meaningfully enhance long-term outcomes for tens of thousands of cardiac surgery patients every year. Overall, while surgical ablation during CABG clearly offers survival advantages, it remains underutilized, which calls for an urgent need for practice alignment with current evidence and guidelines.

Reference:

Schaffer, J. M., Kluis, A., Squiers, J. J., George, T. J., Shih, E., Banwait, J. K., Mack, M. J., & DiMaio, J. M. (2025). Survival after surgical ablation of atrial fibrillation during coronary artery bypass in Medicare beneficiaries. The Annals of Thoracic Surgery. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.athoracsur.2025.03.044