Atrial Fibrillation: To Ablate or Not Ablate - That Is the Question

I should have referenced this earlier: Dr. John Mandrola, cardiac electrophysiologist from Lousville, KY offers his thoughts on the complexities of trying to decide when atrial fibrillation ablation therapy is appropriate (as opposed to medical therapy) and provides an excellent overview of the varying factors that weigh upon that decision.

I would only like to reinforce his suggestion for patients to consider enrolling in the NIH-sponsored prospective randomized CABANA trial that compares drug versus ablative therapy in symptomatic patients with atrial fibrillation. Only through careful, systematic study of this disorder can we hope to improve our understanding of the best treatment recommendations for atrial fibrillation.

-Wes

h/t: Reminder offered by @HRSOnline via Twitter.
Image courtesy the Dr. John M blog.