Transesophageal echocardiography before atrial fibrillation ablation: looking before cooking.

p 2 A e b c t b n many electrophysiology laboratories, atrial fibrillation AF) is becoming the most common heart rhythm disorder eing treated with catheter ablation. Reasons for this nclude the large numbers of patients with AF, the poor uality of life commonly associated with AF, the limitations f drug therapy, advances in ablation tools and methods, nd the increasing number of electrophysiologists trained in he technique. Catheter ablation is now recognized as a egitimate option for patients with symptomatic AF who ave failed antiarrhythmic drug therapy (1).