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This is a report of the Heart Rhythm Society (HRS) Task Force on Catheter and Surgical Ablation of Atrial Fibrillation, developed in partnership with the European Heart Rhythm Association (EHRA), a registered branch of the European Society of Cardiology and the European Cardiac Arrhythmia Society (ECAS), and in collaboration with the American College of Cardiology (ACC), American Heart Association (AHA), the Asia Pacific Heart Rhythm Society (APHRS), and the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS). This is endorsed by the governing bodies of the ACC Foundation, the AHA, the ECAS, the EHRA, the STS, the APHRS, and the HRS.

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Surgical ablation for atrial fibrillation (AF) can be performed without additional risk of operative mortality or major morbidity, and is recommended at the time of concomitant mitral operations to restore sinus rhythm. (Class I, Level A) Surgical ablation for AF can be performed without additional operative risk of mortality or major morbidity, and is recommended at the time of concomitant isolated aortic valve replacement, isolated coronary artery bypass graft surgery, and aortic valve replacement plus coronary artery bypass graft operations to restore sinus rhythm. (Class I, Level B nonrandomized) Surgical ablation for symptomatic AF in the absence of structural heart disease that is refractory to class I/III antiarrhythmic drugs or catheter-based therapy or both is reasonable as a primary stand-alone procedure, to restore sinus rhythm. (Class IIA, Level B randomized) Surgical ablation for symptomatic persistent or longstanding persistent AF in the absence of structural heart disease is reasonable, as a stand-alone procedure using the Cox-Maze III/IV lesion set compared with pulmonary vein isolation alone. (Class IIA, Level B nonrandomized) Surgical ablation for symptomatic AF in the setting of left atrial enlargement (≥4.5 cm) or more than moderate mitral regurgitation by pulmonary vein isolation alone is not recommended. (Class III no benefit, Level C expert opinion) It is reasonable to perform left atrial appendage excision or exclusion in conjunction with surgical ablation for AF for longitudinal thromboembolic morbidity prevention. (Class IIA, Level C limited data) At the time of concomitant cardiac operations in patients with AF, it is reasonable to surgically manage the left atrial appendage for longitudinal thromboembolic morbidity prevention. (Class IIA, Level C expert opinion) In the treatment of AF, multidisciplinary heart team assessment, treatment planning, and long-term follow-up can be useful and beneficial to optimize patient outcomes. (Class I, Level C expert opinion).

The Cox maze III procedure has equivalent operative risk and long-term efficacy in patients undergoing both lone operations and concomitant procedures. The Cox maze III procedure remains the standard against which alternative procedures for atrial fibrillation must be judged.

Background-Various mechanisms of atrial fibrillation (AF) have been demonstrated experimentally. Invasive methods to study these mechanisms in humans have limitations, precluding continuous mapping of both atria with sufficient resolution. In this article, we present continuous biatrial epicardial activation sequences of AF in humans using noninvasive electrocardiographic imaging (ECGI). Methods and Results-In the testing phase, ECGI accuracy was evaluated by comparing ECGI with coregistered CARTO images during atrial pacing in 6 patients. Additionally, correlative observations from catheter mapping and ablation were compared with ECGI in 3 patients. In the study phase, ECGI maps during AF in 26 patients were analyzed for mechanisms and complexity. ECGI noninvasively imaged the low-amplitude signals of AF in a wide range of patients (97% procedural success). Spatial accuracy for determining initiation sites from pacing was 6 mm. Locations critical to maintenance of AF identified during catheter ablation were identified by ECGI; ablation near these sites restored sinus rhythm. In the study phase, the most common patterns of AF were multiple wavelets (92%), with pulmonary vein (69%) and non-pulmonary vein (62%) focal sites. Rotor activity was seen rarely (15%). AF complexity increased with longer clinical history of AF, although the degree of complexity of nonparoxysmal AF varied widely. Conclusions-ECGI