What Is Persistent Atrial Fibrillation? A persistent atrial fibrillation is one step down the line for a paroxysmal atrial fibrillation. Persistent atrial fibrillation is where the atrial fibrillation comes on and we have to do some sort of therapeutic intervention to cause the atrial fibrillation to go away. If we do not do anything, usually the atrial fibrillation continues. So some potential therapeutic options include medical therapy or electrical cardioversions that will get the patient out of the arrhythmia.