What is catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation and when is it appropriate?
When at least one medication fails to control symptoms of atrial fibrillation, catheter ablation is advocated by the American Heart Association, American College of Cardiology and the Heart Rhythm Society for suitable patients. Because atrial fibrillation is a complex heart rhythm that can involve multiple regions of the heart, catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation is somewhat more complex than many other catheter ablation procedures. While we didn’t used to think of atrial fibrillation as a rhythm that could be approached with catheter ablation, cardiothoracic surgeons began to have success with the MAZE procedure, where the atria of the heart were divided into small compartments. The next major breakthrough came in the late 1990’s, when it was discovered that sleeves of heart tissue that extend from the left atrium of the heart back into the pulmonary veins can fire rapidly and are the “triggers” for atrial fibrillation in 85-90% of new onset cases of atrial fibrillation. Initial
