Anatomically Guided Catheter Ablation for Atrial Fibrillation

In recent years, radio-frequency catheter ablation has emerged as an effective treatment option for patients with paroxysmal and chronic atrial fibrillation (AF). Based on advances in the understanding of the pathogenesis of AF, catheter ablation has evolved primarily into two general approaches: (1) ablation strategies that create a predetermined set of lesions usually at or around specific anatomical landmarks (anatomically guided ablation) and (2) ablation strategies that attempt to identify and eliminate specific mechanisms that initiate and perpetuate AF (tailored ablation). A tailored ablation strategy also has been combined with anatomically guided ablation. In this chapter, anatomically guided ablation is discussed.