Atrial fibrillation requiring urgent medical care. Approach and outcome in the various departments of admissions. Data from the atrial Fibrillation/flutter Italian Registry (FIRE)

Minimally invasive surgical techniques have been employed successfully for a wide spectrum of cardiothoracic procedures. These approaches were proven to be as safe and effective as traditional surgical techniques. Unfortunately, it remains a lack of adequate instrumentations and anatomic features, particularly in the pediatric pool of patients. We have employed a new surgical approach for closing a patent ductus arteriosus in low weight newborn (< 2.5 kg), performing a superior extrapleuric approach. This report demonstrates that this technique is safe and reproducible, and is our opinion that it may substitute the medical management of patent ductus arteriosus.