John D. Day    美国犹他大学
    <International Circulation>: Over the past decade， atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation was performed by the wide encirclement of the pulmonary veins (PV). At present， pulmonary vein isolation with catheter ablation is an effective treatment in patients with symptomatic atrial fibrillation refractory or intolerant to anti-arrhythmic medications. During the next decade， what kind of approach do you see will be applied to the ablation of atrial fibrillation?

   《国际循环》：过去20年来，心房纤颤射频是基于肺静脉大环进行的。目前肺静脉隔离射频消融治疗房颤用于治疗复发性有症状的或对抗心律失常药物不敏感的房颤患者。在未来的20年您认为何种技术会继续应用于这项手术？
    Dr Day: That is actually an excellent question. In the last decade we have seen tremendous advances with the use of atrial fibrillation ablation in treating patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation. The big weak link and the area we are really struggling with is trying to come up with a very effective treatment for patients with the more chronic forms - the long-standing and persistent atrial fibrillation. I can foresee over the next ten years that the technique will be refined and we will have better outcomes in treating these patients with the more persistent forms of atrial fibrillation. Taking a step even beyond that and looking at the bigger picture where we have an ageing population and as a consequence the incidence of atrial fibrillation is increasing dramatically， and combined with the fact that we really don’t have a great pharmacologic option for the maintenance of sinus rhythm， we really need to take this procedure to the masses and being able to provide a very quick， safe and effective ablation that can be applied to the many people worldwide with atrial fibrillation.

    Dr Day: 这个问题很好。过去的20年中我们看到很多有关射频消融手术治疗阵发性房颤病例的技术进步。这个领域一直以来的薄弱点和立足点在于建立一种有效治疗阵发性房颤的方法，我可以预言在今后的10年随着射频消融技术的革新，手术治疗慢性房颤患者的预后将显著改善。进一步从宏观角度看，随着社会老龄化，心房纤颤发病率显著增高，维持窦性心律的有效药物治疗方法尚未确立，我们急需在全球范围内建立一种安全、快捷、有效的，并适用于多数房颤患者的消融手术方法。