Atrial fibrillation is the most common arrhythmia and is associated with important morbidity and mortality. Antiarrhythmic therapy is recommended as initial therapy but is associated with modest efficacy and significant side effects. Over the past several years, catheter ablation has been demonstrated to provide effective and safe curative therapy for atrial fibrillation. Future investigations will assess advances in catheter ablation technology and will help to define the precise role of catheter ablation relative to alternative therapies, such as rate-control and antiarrhythmic therapy.