Influence of Preoperative Atrial Fibrillation on Late Results of Mitral Repair: Is Concomitant Ablation Justified?

Preoperative AF is a marker for increased surgical risk of mitral regurgitation repair, and a risk factor for late adverse cardiac events and stroke. Although the independent contribution of AF to late survival is uncertain, preoperative AF increases postoperative morbidity independently; therefore, corrective intervention would be expected to benefit patients in this regard.