Doctors & patients are saying about 'A-Fib.com'...
"A-Fib.com is a great web site for patients, that is unequaled by anything else out there."
Dr. Douglas L. Packer, MD, FHRS, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN
"Jill and I put you and your work in our prayers every night. What you do to help people through this [A-Fib] process is really incredible."
Jill and Steve Douglas, East Troy, WI
“I really appreciate all the information on your website as it allows me to be a better informed patient and to know what questions to ask my EP.
Faye Spencer, Boise, ID, April 2017
“I think your site has helped a lot of patients.”Dr. Hugh G. Calkins, MD Johns Hopkins,
Baltimore, MD
FAQs A-Fib Ablations: Wait or Ablate?
Catheter Ablation
“I’m getting by with my Atrial Fibrillation. With the recent improvements in Pulmonary Vein ablation techniques, should I wait until a better technique is developed?”
A-Fib is a progressive disease. The longer you have it, in general the worse it gets. In a process called “remodeling” your heart may change physically and electrically if you have A-Fib long enough. The longer you have A-Fib, the harder it is to cure.
For instance, a patient can be diagnosed with paroxysmal A-Fib initially and then transition to persistent, and eventually to long-standing persistent A-Fib. This progressive nature of atrial fibrillation is why doctors say, “A-Fib begets A-Fib”.
So, it’s important to be cured as soon as reasonably possible. See our Overview of A-Fib.
With today’s current Pulmonary Vein Ablation (Isolation) procedures using Pulmonary Vein Potentials, you have an 70%-85% chance of becoming A-Fib-free (in cases of Paroxysmal A-Fib). (The other 15% though not cured are often significantly improved; meds that didn’t work before may now work.) With a second ablation the success rate is 90% or greater.
So don’t wait. Your odds aren’t going to get much better than that.
Return to FAQ Catheter Ablations
Last updated: Monday, June 18, 2018
