Palliation?  Dictionary.com defines palliative as

That's right, these options for atrial fibrillation are only treatments and will never be cures.  Since these are not cures they need to be continued, in general indefinitely, for the patient to feel better.  A fib. palliations can be divided into three general groups.  Anti-arrhythmic drugs, rate control medications and AV nodal ablation + pacing.  Although not cures, some of the palliative treatments for atrial fibrillation can achieve excellent symptomatic improvement in many patients. To learn a little about these treatments, click on the links above.