The use of cryoballoon ablation in atrial fibrillation: Simplifying pulmonary vein isolation?

Abstract

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is certainly the most common arrhythmia encountered in clinical practice, reaching epidemic proportions in occidental society. Nowadays, transcatheter ablation using radiofrequency (RF) has become a popular technique in the treatment of drug-resistant AF. Since ectopic beats originating from the pulmonary veins (PVs) have been shown to be the main trigger initiating AF, electrical isolation of these venous structures has become the goal when performing this procedure.