title: Ablation for Atrial Fibrillation: Termination of Atrial Fibrillation is Not the End Point.
abstract: Permanent pulmonary vein isolation constitutes the main procedural goal of current approaches to atrial fibrillation (AF) catheter ablation, with established effectiveness as a stand-alone procedure in most patients with paroxysmal AF. In patients with AF of longer duration, however, the definition of the optimal procedural end point is still controversial. Based on analysis of data from 16 studies that have assessed the value of AF termination in predicting long-term procedural success, it is concluded that AF termination clearly represents an unreliable procedural end point during ablation of nonparoxysmal AF.
authors.affiliation: Texas Cardiac Arrhythmia Institute, St David's Medical Center, 3000 North I-35, Suite 720, Austin, TX 78705, USA; University of Foggia, Foggia, Italy.
authors.forename: Pasquale
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Santangeli
authors.affiliation: Texas Cardiac Arrhythmia Institute, St David's Medical Center, 3000 North I-35, Suite 720, Austin, TX 78705, USA; University of Foggia, Foggia, Italy.
authors.forename: Luigi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Di Biase
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, Stanford University, 300 Pasteur Dr MC 5319, A260, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
authors.forename: Amin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Al-Ahmad
authors.affiliation: Texas Cardiac Arrhythmia Institute, St David's Medical Center, 3000 North I-35, Suite 720, Austin, TX 78705, USA.
authors.forename: Rodney
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Horton
authors.affiliation: Texas Cardiac Arrhythmia Institute, St David's Medical Center, 3000 North I-35, Suite 720, Austin, TX 78705, USA.
authors.forename: J David
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Burkhardt
authors.affiliation: Texas Cardiac Arrhythmia Institute, St David's Medical Center, 3000 North I-35, Suite 720, Austin, TX 78705, USA.
authors.forename: Javier E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Sanchez
authors.affiliation: Texas Cardiac Arrhythmia Institute, St David's Medical Center, 3000 North I-35, Suite 720, Austin, TX 78705, USA; Department of Internal Medicine, Tong-Ji Hospital, Tong-Ji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Rong
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bai
authors.affiliation: Texas Cardiac Arrhythmia Institute, St David's Medical Center, 3000 North I-35, Suite 720, Austin, TX 78705, USA; Faculty of Medicine, Heart Institute, University of Pecs, Pecs, Hungary.
authors.forename: Agnes
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pump
authors.affiliation: Texas Cardiac Arrhythmia Institute, St David's Medical Center, 3000 North I-35, Suite 720, Austin, TX 78705, USA.
authors.forename: Sanghamitra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mohanty
authors.affiliation: Texas Cardiac Arrhythmia Institute, St David's Medical Center, 3000 North I-35, Suite 720, Austin, TX 78705, USA; Division of Cardiology, Stanford University, 300 Pasteur Dr MC 5319, A260, Stanford, CA 94305, USA; Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA; Interventional Electrophysiology, Scripps Clinic, San Diego, CA, USA; EP Services, California Pacific Medical Center, San Francisco, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Natale