Current Concepts in Ablation of Atrial Fibrillation

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common arrhythmia in clinical practice. It occurs particularly frequently in cardiac surgical patients and is associated with significant excess mortality and morbidity. Pharmacological management of AF is relatively ineffective and associated with significant side effects and complications. Clinicians have therefore pursued more definitive treatment options, both catheter based and surgical, to treat patients with AF. Surgical techniques designed to cure AF have developed in parallel with an improved understanding of the pathophysiological processes underlying this condition. This review describes the rationale behind current surgical approaches to AF and summarizes the results achieved with current techniques.