"Maze" refers to the series of incisions arranged in a maze-like pattern in the atria.
Cox and his associates at Duke, and later at Washington University School of Medicine developed the "maze" or "Cox maze" procedure, an "open-heart" cardiac surgery procedure intended to eliminate atrial fibrillation (AF).
[3] Since then, the Cox-Maze IV procedure is the gold standard surgical treatment for AF with conversion to normal sinus rhythm and freedom from AF at 1 year postoperatively of 93%,[4][5] but the results are institution dependent.
several energy sources, such as unipolar radiofrequency, bipolar radiofrequency, microwave, laser, high-intensity focused ultrasound, and cryothermia, were incorporated into various devices in order to create some of the lesions of the Cox maze III procedure without actually cutting into the atrial walls.
Microwave and laser therapy have both been withdrawn from the market, but the other devices continue to be utilized to treat AF surgically.