Hi,
I'm a pretty healthy, active 80 year old woman. I had vagal proximal afib. In March 2026 I had a Watchman and PFA at Mayo, combined procedure. They did the usual pulmonary vein ablation--it seems that's a source for most afib--then checked for other rogue signals and ablated for them also. My post procedure report reads "....We achieved entrance and exit block in all pulmonary veins. On the remap, we found that the posterior wall was partially isolated based on absence of capture at high output and absent bipolar potentials. We applied additional PFA lesions in the superior and inferior posterior wall that rendered it electrically isolated with evidence of entrance and exit block...." All the ablations were done from the inside of the heart.
I was never uncomfortable during the whole procedure except for a mild sore throat after. Time in the OR was 6 1/2 hours. Went back to hotel 2 hours later. It seemed their biggest concern is preventing bleeding at the cather insertion points. I am now 5 months out. I had the expected few days of afib episodes at about 11 days after surgery, but these were not worrisome because they were expected--scar tissue still forming. I have had no arrhythmias since except a few PVCs during some unrelated anxious days--not unusual for me. At the 3 month checkup I was told to stop Bisoprolol (tapered) and Eliquis and switch to 81mg aspirin. We drove from WI to Seattle 9 days after my surgery with Mayo's blessing. Before the procedure my Apple watch resting HR was 47 (with no symptoms). Now it's settling around 60.
I think it's very important to recognize if your afib is vagal or androgenic and to get the appropriate procedure. It seems you are all set in that regard, but to anyone else with afib out there--learn about vagal afib. Very different triggers and treatment!
Good luck!
Julie
Good luck to you!