I am going to be having an atrial fibrillation ablation. What exactly is being ablated and what can I expect?

Rapid electrical impulses from the pulmonary veins usually trigger atrial fibrillation or AFib. These are veins coming from the lungs that drain into the left atrium. Heart muscle-type cells in those veins with different properties than the rest of the heart allow such rapid electrical activity. When we ablate atrial fibrillation, we either burn or freeze around the openings of those pulmonary veins to make a firewall that keeps those impulses from irritating the heart. In many situations, that is all that is required. However, ablation may be needed in more advanced atrial fibrillation in other areas.

AFib ablation is usually done with general anesthesia. Simple pulmonary vein isolation typically takes about two hours but can take significantly longer if additional ablation is required.