Catheter Ablation Effective in Treating Atrial Fibrillation

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Doctors often first prescribe beta blockers, calcium channel blockers, flecainide or propafenone to try to improve the condition before resorting to surgical options such as installing a pacemaker or catheter ablation.

In catheter ablation, doctors guide a thin flexible tube through blood vessels to the heart. Radiofrequency energy directed from the tube's tip heats and destroys the tissue causing the bad electrical signals. The procedure's risks include creating fluid in the lungs or around the heart, bleeding, clots and stroke.

Another study, involving about 3,000 atrial fibrillation patients who will be followed for three years, will try to determine whether those who have catheter ablation live longer those using medication for the condition, according to background information in a Loyola University news release on the study.

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More information

The American Heart Association has more about atrial fibrillation.

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-- Kevin McKeever