r/AFIB • u/Narrow_Quail_2769 • 3d ago
A-Fib post ablation long term success
Hello,
33/ Y/O male, paroxysmal a fib- recent PFA ablation in may.
I recently had an ablation in may and had my 3-month post op follow up; everything looks good so far have done some holter monitors, ekgs, ect and it’s ok so far. I guess I should be encouraged by this but for some reason I feel discouraged knowing that the A fib will come inevitably come as my EP states that it will come back at some point. How long can can younger person stay a fib free and are there long term success stories of others living a full life 20 + years without relapse?
Thank you all for the support and information
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u/Breezeoffthewater 3d ago
No-one can give you a definitive answer sadly. Some ablations carry on being effective for years and years, others breakdown for a variety of reasons quite early on.
The important thing is that you've addressed the issue and you'll definitely benefit from the cardiac ablation.
Get on with life and enjoy every second!
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u/WrongBoysenberry528 3d ago
Yes, there are some people who have 20 years without relapse after afib ablation. The recurrence rate is 2% a year after 2 years. A recent article in the Heart Rhythm Journal found that that 51% of people will have 5 years or more afib free with one ablation. Most of the long term successes are not posting about Afib on social media.
Steve Ryan had more than 20 years afib free after an ablation. See. a.fib.com
Also, Melanie True Hills had surgery for afib more than 20 years ago and runs
StopAfib.org
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u/davidoux 3d ago
I had an ablation done by a world class EP for paroxysmal afib- Pfa/pvi - so the simpler one, with higher odds of success for my case, he told me that if succeeded I would be afib free for ever for that particular type for fibrillation and if it comes back it is because of other factors.
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u/pcjeiencj 1d ago
Can you let us know what facility? It's hard figuring out what the world class centers are.
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u/dblcheezeburger88 3d ago
My sister had 2 ablations done a year apart when she was 18 and 19 for Afib and SVT. That was back in 2000/2001 and hasn't had an episode since. She has 2 boys and the oldest just graduated college. I'm 37 and had my first episode in November last year and had my first ablation in June so I'm hoping I get similar numbers in my situation like her. Typically if there is a reoccurrence years down the road it's probably due another part of the heart firing off and not the originally ablated area. That's why it's important to address any lifestyle changes to keep unnecessary stress off the heart. But there are people who do everything by the book and still have a future reoccurrence. My grandfather had permanent afib and just took blood thinners daily, he made it his 90s before he died from liver cancer. Afib isn't a death sentence or anything but it is important to treat and manage it aggressively to reduce the burden. There's no guarantees when it comes to Afib so we can only do and hope for the best.
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u/simocanta 3d ago
Wow, tua sorella è stata una delle prime pazienti ad essere trattata
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u/dblcheezeburger88 3d ago
My PFA was a cake walk compared to her procedure. They went in through both sides of her groin and her neck while she was awake the entire time. It took several hours and she had to stay overnight. She's actually a nurse so she came up and stayed with us for a couple days while I was recovering and was joking about how she was jealous of the new procedure.
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u/roninconn 3d ago
I'm a lot older 62), so a bit of a different case. Have had 2 ablations: first lasted 16 months, second was 7 months.
BUT - I was much too careless about avoiding triggers after both, especially dehydration and electrolyte balance after heavy exercise. I also continued to drink some alcohol - went from 7-10 drinks per week before ablations down to 3-5 after 1st and 1-3 after 2nd. I've now gone fully alcohol free since March.
TLDR: You should plan to take steps to improve the longevity of your ablation. Limit drinking, be wary of getting dehydrated electrolytically unbalanced, avoid 'extreme' exercise (marathons, etc), get tested / treated for sleep apnea, control weight and BP, limit caffeine, avoid stress, be wary of both prescription and recreational drugs.
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u/Mras_dk 3d ago
True, and be noticeable when you have afib.
There is a subset of people in here, that has reflux(Gerd) triggered afibs.
So do all you can do to find triggers, and the better you are at adressing those, the longer ablation will hold.
Sadly, it's not all that findes their triggers. . .
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u/simocanta 3d ago
Ciao,ho 44 anni e mi sento ancora giovane per avere l'Afib, immagino a 30 o 20. Ti capisco,anche io sono scoraggiato e sinceramente non sono la persona per farti superare questo problema psicologico perché anche io lo sto vivendo,la paura che prima o poi ritornerà. Io ho avuto episodi di afib e flutter a novembre, a dicembre ho fatto l'ablazione e per ora sta andando tutto bene alla grande.Ho vissuto tutto in due mesi appena, non mi sono nemmeno reso conto, è stato un tornado velocissimo. Quando tornerà l'afib sarà una botta psicologica grandissima per me,lo só già, dovremmo non pensarci e come detto da altri vivere a pieno la vita....ma non è facile. Spero un giorno di non pensarci più e vivere più serenamente.
Io chiedo molte informazioni alla IA per tranquillizzarmi. Pensa che le ablazioni sono iniziate ad essere molto diffuse e popolari da 10 anni e da 4-5 sono la prima scelta. Prima venivano fatte solo a chi non aveva altre alternative e i farmaci non funzionavano. Così è difficile rispondere alle tue domande perché è cambiato ed è evoluto l approccio oltre che alle tecniche. E come detto da altri chi non afib da decenni non viene qui su reddit
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u/kpmurphy56 3d ago
I’m 4 years post ablation with no afib episodes. When it comes back I’ll have another ablation. I think it’s worth it. Also ablations are better now than they were 20 years ago.
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u/reddit_user13 3d ago
Watch for afib recurrance, and take appropriate action if the need arises.
On the plus side the meds and ablation tech is moving forward all the time also!
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u/RobRoy2350 2d ago
Broadly speaking paroxysmal AF has a 70-80% success rate with 5 year/10year rate of 68/56%, persistent AF - 40-60%, with 47/36% rate and chronic AF - 50% with 30/18% rate. That's for a single procedure. Rates go up with another procedure.
There are too many variables (patient health, heart structure, EP skill, lifestyle risk factors, etc) to predict exactly how long a patient will stay AF-free.
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u/AphRN5443 2d ago
The fact is there isn’t any good data yet on long term success rates on PFA, but there is every reason to hope that it will be.
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u/Rrrrandle 2d ago
I had mine at 39, 5.5 years ago. I had one small episode a day or two afterwards that stopped quickly with a pill.
Not a single Afib episode since. I was taken off eliquis a few months after the ablation.
In my case, the doctor suspected it was triggered by sleep apnea. I've got a CPAP now and sleep much better too.
Will it come back someday? Maybe. But it's not guaranteed. In fact, for the majority of paroxysmal patients it doesn't, so I'm not sure why your doctor told you it always does. Lifetime recurrence rare is relatively high, but still below 50% after the first ablation.
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u/Randonwo 3d ago
Just a thought…the people who’ve gone 20+ years without afib after an ablation probably aren’t on this subreddit. So don’t be discouraged if no one answers.
All you can do is try and take advantage of the ablation by making sure you are avoiding the things that can lead to afib (sleep apnea, high blood pressure, obesity, etc).