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Abstract Treatment of atrial fibrillation(AF) remains challenging despite a deep understanding of its underlying mechanisms. The detailed and quantitative description of functional reentry, the famous “leading circle” model, was developed more than 40 years ago. Subsequently, an alternative paradigm based on spiral waves has long been postulated to drive AF in decades of study. Rotor as a “spiral wave generator”, is a curved “vortex” formed by spin motion in the twodimensional plane, which can be identified by using advanced mapping methods in experimental and clinical AF. However, it is difficult to achieve complementary results between basic results and clinical studies due to limited research methods and complexity of rotor mechanism. This paper reviews knowledge garnered over decades on generation, electrophysiological properties and threedimensional structure diversity of the rotor, and make a comparison among the latest clinical approaches of rotor identification, such as panoramic mapping and local highdensity mapping. Although the rotor mapping and ablation perform as a promising therapeutic option for AF, some inclusive outcomes of studies remain existing in either panoramic mapping or local high-density mapping. It is proposed that the clinical rotor identification might be substantially influenced by (ⅰ) non-identical surface activation patterns resulted from diverse threedimensional forms of scroll wave, and (ⅱ) inadequate resolution of mapping techniques. With rapidly advancing theoretical and technological developments, future work is required to resolve the clinical limitations in current basic and clinical research methodology, in translation from one to the other, and in resolution of available mapping techniques.
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