Combined Ablation and Exclusion of the Left Atrial Appendage in a Pediatric Patient: A Minimally Invasive Simplified Approach

We present the first reported case of totally video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery for combined ablation and external exclusion without appendectomy of the left atrial appendage. We encourage the use of video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery for a combined procedure of epicardial radiofrequency ablation and external exclusion without appendectomy to achieve a safe and complete electrical isolation of the left atrial appendage in children with focal atrial tachycardia. In our opinion, the external exclusion of the appendage has several advantages: it presents minimal risk of bleeding (especially in the pediatric population), and the clip can be retrieved if the circumflex artery is distorted. (C) 2016 by The Society of Thoracic Surgeons