title: Expert consensus guidelines: Examining surgical ablation for atrial fibrillation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery, West Virginia University Morgantown, WVa; Washington Adventist Hospital, Adventist HealthCare, Takoma Park, Md. Electronic address: nivadmd14@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Niv
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ad
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Washington University School of Medicine at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, St Louis, Mo.
authors.forename: Ralph J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Damiano
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery, West Virginia University Morgantown, WVa.
authors.forename: Vinay
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Badhwar
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Md.
authors.forename: Hugh
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Calkins
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Academic Hospital Maastricht, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: La Meir
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Nippon Medical School, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nitta
authors.affiliation: Sana Cardiac Surgery Stuttgart GmbH, Stuttgart, Germany.
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Doll
authors.affiliation: WVU Heart and Vascular Institute, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WVa.
authors.forename: Sari D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Holmes
authors.affiliation: Center for the Study of Chronic Illness and Disability, George Mason University, Fairfax, Va.
authors.forename: Ali A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Weinstein
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, The Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio.
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gillinov
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D001281:Atrial Fibrillation / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000401:mortality / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery; D002309:Cardiology / Q000592:standards; D017115:Catheter Ablation / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000401:mortality / Q000592:standards; D032921:Consensus; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine / Q000592:standards; D011788:Quality of Life; D020127:Recovery of Function; D018570:Risk Assessment; D016896:Treatment Outcome