@gloaming Yes I've heard the 5x stroke risk without Elliquis or other DOAC. My EP has me on 81mg aspirin for years after ablation. Says i should take elliquis if I get an AF spell longer than 4 hrs. i've scoureded medical literature to confirm his guidance. Seems that DOAC Rx is de rigor for most cardiologists. But there are some studies which cast doubt on the 5x rule. ARTESIA is one but there's some controversy there in that the study only looks at subclinical cases which from my reading means that the AF has not been formally diagnosed using an ECG, but is the result of implanted or smartwatch traces. Recent studies- ALONE-AF and OCEAN concludes that folks who've had ablation and are AF free don't have any higher stroke risk from aspirin compared to DOACs and the principal investigator in the ALONE study said that aspirin doens't seem to do much - so it may be consdiered placebo. MAkes sense but curiuos about your statement "EP community have established that you can die from an AF related stroke months after a successful ablation" I can't find studies which reinforce this gudiance. Bottom line: I'll bet the companies who sell Watchman LAA closure device plus thus who sell the (expensive) DOACs are scrambling to find rebuttals to these studies.