Sign-in to Ask A Doctor - 24x7
OR
Sign in with Google
Is Cardiac Ablation Recommended After Repeated A-fib Episodes?
Question: My mother had an A-fib episode about a year ago in which she was cardioverted and normal cardiac rhythm was restored. Also, she was placed on flecainide along with coumadin. However, just recently, she went into afib mode again, cardioverted, and same medication regimen. My question is we are considering to do cardiac ablation. Is this a good choice? Should we wait? Other alternatives? Ablation risk factors? ( she is 73 years old, high blood pressure, diabetes, enlarged heart, and dialostic heart failure) Thank you.
Brief Answer:
Ablation is not a Good option at present
Detailed Answer:
Hello ,
I am Dr. Mody and I would be addressing your concern .
I would enlist the reasons for my recommendation.
1) What she has is called a well controlled AF . Recurrence once a year is not that significant and hence the medication are working well.
2) As you haven't mentioned any side effects so far , so it means she is tolerating the medications well.
3) Atrial fibrillation recurrence after ablation is as good as 25 % after a year , so despite ablation 1 out of 4 persons may have a recurrence needing ablation again or restarting medication.
4) Most importantly when you said that her heart is dilated , hence in such cases the substrate of atrial fibrillation is always present and so recurrence after ablation is even higher than I've mentioned .
During to all the above reasons it's best to continue medication and consider ablation only if the recurrence requiring cardioversion increases in frequency or she has side effects of medications .
Hoping I could help .
Let me know if any clarification is needed
Do rate for others reference.
Regards Dr. Priyank Mody
Ablation is not a Good option at present
Detailed Answer:
Hello ,
I am Dr. Mody and I would be addressing your concern .
I would enlist the reasons for my recommendation.
1) What she has is called a well controlled AF . Recurrence once a year is not that significant and hence the medication are working well.
2) As you haven't mentioned any side effects so far , so it means she is tolerating the medications well.
3) Atrial fibrillation recurrence after ablation is as good as 25 % after a year , so despite ablation 1 out of 4 persons may have a recurrence needing ablation again or restarting medication.
4) Most importantly when you said that her heart is dilated , hence in such cases the substrate of atrial fibrillation is always present and so recurrence after ablation is even higher than I've mentioned .
During to all the above reasons it's best to continue medication and consider ablation only if the recurrence requiring cardioversion increases in frequency or she has side effects of medications .
Hoping I could help .
Let me know if any clarification is needed
Do rate for others reference.
Regards Dr. Priyank Mody
Note: For further queries related to coronary artery disease and prevention, click here.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Arnab Banerjee
Answered by
Get personalised answers from verified doctor in minutes across 80+ specialties
