Abstract
Catheter ablation for treatment of symptomatic non-paroxysmal atrial
fibrillation remains challenging. Clinical failure and need for
continued medical therapy or repeat ablation is common, especially in
more advanced forms of atrial fibrillation. Hybrid ablation has emerged
as a more effective and safe therapy than endocardial-only ablation
particularly for longstanding persistent atrial fibrillation as
demonstrated by the randomized controlled CONVERGE trial. Hybrid
ablation requires collaboration of electrophysiologists and cardiac
surgeons to develop specific workflows. This review describes the Hybrid
Convergent approach in the context of available ablation options and
offers guidance for workflow development and patient selection.