Cardio ablation

I had a PFA done in May of this year. They did a lot of ablating in both the left and right atria. No pain and just itching where they shaved the groin area. I am still on Eliquis but have stopped taking metoprolol (Thank you).

I've had two ablations, in 2018 for SVT and 2024 for afib. Both were a piece of cake. I was in and out the same day and so far both issues have been resolved. As I suspect everyone will advise, if possible get to the best medical center you can with an experienced electrophysiologist. I had my last one at Mayo Jacksonville. The first one was at a hospital in Ocala, FL, via an internal referral. Although it's not a world renown center my experience, and results, were good - so even if you're not at a world class facility it can work out just fine.

@capnhal
I don’t have any experience with Galaxy but I have an Apple Watch that I can do the same things with. It’s been nice being able to take a quick “test” from my watch to get an idea of what is going on. It’s been extremely helpful to have the info no matter which platform (Apple or Samsung etc) you’re on.
I’ve even sent the info that my watch has gathered to my doctor and from there she decides if I need any further tests. It’s been helpful for guidance.
I had my ablation a week ago.

Thanks. I got my watch yesterday and am still figuring out how to set it up best. I haven't had to test its capabilities yet since I've been stable since the ablation 4 days ago, but it's comforting to know it can keep an eye on things and fun to have a new gadget to play with.

@red350
Wow, so sorry that happened to you. I had an ablation in February, 2025. While in Post Anesthesia recovery (about 1 hour post ablation) I had chest pain, extreme dizziness, drop in blood pressure. Echocardiogram showed a moderate pericardial effusion. Was taken back to surgery and catheter inserted to drain blood. Spent next 2 nights in CVICU. Discharged on colchicine for 6 weeks and naproxen for 2 weeks. My EP also felt I was perfect candidate for ablation as I exercise, weight is healthy and have no other cardiac issues. I am ok now. I have had occasional episodes of elevated regular heart rate (120-140) lasting 30-60 seconds. These episodes did not trigger Apple Watch. I had a loop recorder placed several weeks so will see what that shows. After seeing your post, I feel like I dodged a bullet. It could have easily resulted in cardiac tamponade. Hope you feel better soon.

@gloaming hey gloaming, looks like you do a lot of research. Have had one ablation, did not work. If you where me, who would you go to now?

@drherm It didn't work because the electrophysiologist didn't ablate the right place(s). In most cases a 'run-of-the-mill' EP will first ablate only the pulmonary vein ostia (their mouths where they empty oxygen-rich blood into the back wall of the left atrium). This DOES cover a good number of paroxysmal AF patients, but not all of them. You may have more than one wall affected with a re-entrant where the signal loops back and enters the left atrium at a spot other than the pulmonary vein ostia. And he/she missed it. Or them.

You may or may not know this, but about 25% of all index ablations fail to stop the arrhythmia. This means only 75% are successful on that index (first) attempt. If you don't stop fibrillating, even for short runs now and then, by the end of three months post op, you have a failed ablation. I was one such unlucky patient. I had to have a second attempt, which thankfully worked.

You have a number of options. First, I'm assuming we're dealing with ectopy or with AF (atrial fibrillation)? In both cases, if you're paroxysmal, meaning it comes and goes now and then, but you aren't in the 'persistent', 'long-standing persistent', or 'permanent' stages of the disorder, then you can have several attempts at a re-do. But it isn't going to work if the EP lacks experience with more complex cases of arrhythmia. You may need to seek the help of a 'better' EP. This happens. If you trust this person with another attempt, this is what I would do. I know people who have had multiple ablations, and the last one they had was by Dr. Andrea Natale at the Texas Cardiac Arrhythmia Institute in Austin. He is one of the top EPs on the planet. Or, consult with another one near you who has been doing this for about ten years or more who is hard to get to because everyone else is in line, waiting.

To help you to understand what went wrong, why not meet with the previous surgeon and ask that person what, if anything, they would do differently knowing their first attempt failed. If what they propose makes sense, including doing more mapping to figure out where he/she needs to pay more attention, then ask that person if they'd like another crack at you. Go from there. That's all I can offer knowing nothing else about you or the person who did the first procedure and what he/she thinks might have gone wrong.

Another option is to try a new anti-arrhythmic drug if you haven't tried one yet or if a previous one lost its power to keep you in normal sinus rhythm. Or another option is to just live with it if you don't have many symptoms. Or if they're getting worse and you know it's having an effect on your heart, possibly headed towards mitral valve problems or to heart failure, you might talk with the EP about an ablation of your AV node and getting a pacemaker.

I am not qualified to advise you regarding your decision, but I just had my A-fib ablation and I am so satisfied. I think the sooner that a person has an ablation after an A-fib diagnosis, the better according to the experts that I have read. Now, I don't have any significant heart issues, so I don't know how that would work for others. Also I have excellent insurance, so cost was not an issue. Some people can tolerate A-fib while others find it extremely upsetting--that was me. I am 79 years old and I didn't want to live with that constantly on my mind! Life style changes do help, or at least they did for me, but 5 "breakouts" in a year with one trip to the ED told me that I wanted to try for a better solution than more meds. I wish you luck, but get a really good electrophysiologist if you go that route. They are not all the same! Do your research and also check the quality rating of the hospital that is used! As a nurse, let me tell you--it makes difference!

@capnhal -- My Fitbit Charge 6 and Pixel watches all run on-demand EKGs (ECGs), too. IF you choose to activate those optional settings, they'll even send alerts for high or low heart rate. I have an implanted cardiac monitor (aka loop recorder), and the heart rhythm dr. checked the EKG against that -- nearly duplicate.

It was the Fitbit that first alerted me, so I alerted the Heart Rhythm Clinic, that I'd had a prolonged AFib episode. They verified that it wasn't just a Fitbit error (as I'd hoped), but I didn't get confirmation of that from our way-understaffed rural medical center for nearly 3 weeks.

It is IMPORTANT to bear this in mind for all of these wearable device HR and HRV results and alerts: They do not monitor HR 24/7 and most don't monitor a deviation even into danger zones unless it lasts for a specified amount of time. They're too small to contain the larger battery that would require. Also, it can be hours later when you get the alert, because they have to verify it on their end, first, and nobody is sitting there doing that 24/7.