Heart (IMAGE) Johns Hopkins Medicine Caption In a healthy heart, the heart's electrical communication system is efficient and effective. During atrial fibrillation, the heart's electrical cells are misfiring, which can increase the risk of stroke, blood clots, and heart failure. Catheter ablation is the procedure to destroy the misfiring heart cells and improve the heart's electrical communication system. This study sought to create a measure of success for catheter ablation, so that physicians and patients could know immediately following treatment whether it was effective, or whether they'll need to anticipate another procedure in the future. Credit Rachel Sweeney Usage Restrictions None License Licensed content Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.