What you can expect

To be considered for the surgical maze procedure, your heart doctor will have you undergo several tests. If you are scheduled for surgery, your care team will talk with you about how to prepare and what to bring to the hospital.

During the procedure

For the surgical maze procedure, you will be put to sleep with general anesthesia and placed on a heart-lung bypass machine.

Then, your doctor will make an incision in your chest and access the upper chambers of your heart. He or she will use energy — such as heat, cold or laser — or a scalpel to create the pattern of lines. Scar tissue forms where the lines are created. This disrupts faulty electrical signals.

While you are on the bypass machine, your doctor may also do other needed cardiac surgeries, such as valve repair or pacemaker placement.

Some patients may be treated with a robot-assisted catheter ablation procedure called a mini-maze.