There are two things a pacemaker can do in a person with atrial fibrillation:
1. It can pace the heart when the heart is unduely slowed by beta blockers which are commonly used to treat atrial fibrillation. This helps in optimising the dose of betablockers and similar drugs used for treatment of atrial fibrillation without the fear of undue slowing of the heart.
2. Multi-site atrial pacing can reduce the chance of atrial (auricular) fibrillation. There are pacemakers with special programs for prevention of atrial fibrillation. http://www.ipej.org/0302/levine3.htm
