1, about the success rate Atrial fibrillation ablation is the most effective treatment for atrial fibrillation, but the success rate is currently only about 75%. Why? Let me explain …… about 90% of idiopathic atrial fibrillation starts in the pulmonary veins, and the abnormal electrical signal is transmitted from the pulmonary veins to the atria, which then induces atrial fibrillation. The principle of ablation surgery is to ablate a circle around the pulmonary vein to block the electrical conduction between the pulmonary vein and the atrium. But, this circle is difficult to draw perfectly and there are inevitably discontinuous points, so this procedure takes longer and applies many instruments causing high costs, but, the success rate of the first procedure is only 75% on average. Theoretically, with numerous surgeries, the success rate is only close to 90% because, as mentioned earlier, only 90% of idiopathic atrial fibrillation is associated with pulmonary veins. However, there is no good preoperative test to identify which patients are associated or not with pulmonary veins. 2.After ablation, why do I feel more attacks than before? As you can imagine, there is a lot of damage to the atria after the ablation procedure, and it needs time to heal. At this time, due to the edema, the electrical conduction on both sides of the ablation line is splitting and merging, causing the heart rhythm to seem more chaotic than before, but don’t worry, as most patients’ heart rhythm will gradually settle down over time. That’s why your doctor will wait three months before judging the success of the procedure. Because of this, you will be given oral anticoagulation medication to prevent your heart from “damaging” your heart and oral medication for atrial fibrillation to reduce arrhythmias in the early post-operative period. Also, you will be given two weeks of medication to reduce stomach acid in order to allow time for the esophagus to recover from the “strain” caused by the proximity of the atria during the ablation procedure.