Dr David B DeLurgio (Emory St Joseph’s Hospital, Atlanta, GA, US) describes the need of the CONVERGE trial, to investigate how persistent atrial fibrillation should be treated through ablation techniques. The CONVERGE trial was designed to compare the effectiveness of adding epicardial left atrial posterior wall ablation to the endocardial catheter ablation procedure while demonstrating an acceptable safety profile.

Questions:

1. What is the rationale behind the CONVERGE trial?
2. What was the trial design?
3. What were your findings?
4. How should this data influence clinical practice?
5. How should this data influence future research?

Interviewer: Mirjam Boros
Recording Specialist: Natascha Wienand