Ablation of atrial fibrillation.

Due in large part to the growing dissatisfaction with traditional pharmacologic approaches to atrial fibrillation (AF) management, and fueled by both the fruits of basic and clinical investigation into the nature of AF initiation and maintenance and the explosive development in catheter-based technologies, AF ablation has matured from a purely investigational technique to a viable--and often preferred--strategy for treating patients suffering from this arrhythmia. Future insights and developments will help us refine our treatment strategies, making AF ablation safer, faster, and more effective. As the prevalence of AF in the general population continues to expand, the goal of optimizing our approach to AF becomes ever more important--and more pressing.