Although physicians generally recommend medications to treat atrial fibrillation, other procedures may be necessary to control the condition if the medications are unsuccessful. One alternative is catheter ablation, which is a minimally invasive procedure that destroys the tiny, specific areas of the heart that were causing the arrhythmia.

In patients whose atrial fibrillation cannot be controlled by other means, a cardiac electrophysiologist is able to ablate (destroy) the atrioventricular (AV) junction and induce complete heart block. The patient would then become dependent on a permanent pacemaker to govern the heartbeat in the lower chambers of the heart.

Although this procedure is not a cure for atrial fibrillation, it prevents the rapid and irregular pulse associated with the condition and can be quite effective in reducing symptoms.