Atrioventricular Junction Ablation for Atrial Fibrillation

Abstract

Atrioventricular junction (AVJ) ablation is an effective therapy in patients with symptomatic atrial fibrillation who are intolerant to or unsuccessfully managed with rhythm control or medical rate control strategies. A drawback is that the procedure mandates a pacing system. Overall, the safety and efficacy of AVJ ablation is high with a majority of the patients reporting significant improvement in symptoms and quality-of-life measures. Risk of sudden cardiac death after device implantation is low, especially with an appropriate postprocedure pacing rate. Mortality benefit with AVJ ablation has been shown in patients with heart failure and cardiac resynchronization therapy devices.

Keywords: Ablate and pace; Ablation; Atrial fibrillation; Atrioventricular junction; Atrioventricular node; Rate control.