@californiazebra My EP only told me that if his first attempt was not successful that he would gladly try a second time, and that his success rate for second ablations ran about 80%. I didn't ever get to talk to him between ablations, but he was kind enough to take an uploaded ECG from my Galaxy watch as evidence that his first attempt had failed....quite obviously.

I don't know how up-to-speed you are on AF and ablations, but success in the industry means 12 full months free of the treated arrhythmia from the date of the ablation. Some EPs state that an ablation has done some good if the ectopy or AF is diminished substantially, hopefully near 50%, and that would be determined by a Holter monitor assessment near the end of the blanking period. I feel, as do many EPs, that unless the AF is stopped fully, an ablation has not corrected the heart's rhythm and that it will continue to deteriorate or 'remodel' itself the more and longer it fibrillates. It is confusing because ostensibly you can have a qualified 'successful' ablation and then have recurring AF at the 53rd week. You went a full year without AF, so you had a successful ablation. I can't imagine how disappointing that would be, although I have a good idea since my index ablation lasted a whole six days before I had to spend a night in the local ICU starting amiodarone to get my heart back into normal sinus.

I had a horrible recurrence, and that's my side of the story. Second ablation worked. But I know that many patients are grateful for a marked reduction in their arrhythmia after an ablation. Maybe that's the 'improved' definition of success.