Metabolic syndrome and catheter ablation in atrial fibrillation.

trial fibrillation (AF) is the most common arrhythmia in clinical practice and is associated with increased risk for mortality and stroke. The prevalence of AF is high and drastically increases with age. Therefore, a downstream therapeutic approach using antiarrhythmic drugs (AADs) is insufficient, and considerable attention has been devoted to clarifying the potential role of an approach which focuses on the development and recurrence of AF. In this issue of the Journal, Tang et al report that a diagnosis of metabolic syndrome (MetS) prior to catheter ablation is associated with a high rate of recurrence of AF after the ablation. 1 This is an important observation, because catheter ablation is widely used as a therapeutic option for restoring and maintaining sinus rhythm in patients with drug-refractory AF, and MetS is considered as a risk factor for newly developed AF.