Second Ablation Too Soon?

Would like to seek some advise on my situation. I am 56 and have had lone AF for over 20 years. In the past year or so before I had my ablation I was averaging 1 to 2 episodes a week that lasted between 4 to 18 hours but always converting with out having to go to the ER. I had an ablation in May of this year and had a few episodes in the first 6 weeks and then after quitting my meds, propafenone and bisoprolol had more trouble at least weekly. Stopped the meds slowly but once I was off them completely I seemed to have even more episodes but not lasting as long as in the past, 2-4 hours. Saw my EP after 90 days and he wants to do a second ablation. A few weeks after seeing him I went out of the country for a couple of weeks and had trouble right off. He told me if that happens to start back on the meds so I did and everything was quiet for the 2 weeks I was away. That was the first part of September, I have continued on the medication since and have had almost no issues at all. I do not want to be on the meds if I don't have to but it sure is better than weekly episodes. I was wondering if I needed a few extra months to heal. I am expecting a date soon for the second ablation but thinking maybe I need to give it a few more months or is it better to get the touch up done sooner for a better long term result? If anyone has any personal experiences or suggestions, it would great to hear from you.

Thanks
Greg B
Edmonton, Canada.

An ablation last May isn't likely to improve further with more time. Generally, the ablation lesions are as good as they're going to get by about 3 months and you're well past that mark. So no, it's not too soon. It's not unusual for a "touch up" to be required after an ablation, so I would probably go ahead with it. However, if the second procedure isn't fully successful, I strongly advise you not to let the same EP make a third attempt. If he can't stop your afib with two procedures then you probably have sources that are beyond his ability to find and ablate and it's time to seek out a much more experienced EP.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/02/2017 09:30PM by Carey.

So, what is the consensus on time frames between the initial RF Ablation and the second. I had my first 1/15/2018 and started episodes right away (I have the medtronic reveal linq thank goodness) and was cardioversion early this month and being told that I have to wait 6 months when I thought it was 4 months. Anyway told different, and if so, how soon between ablations. Thanks in advance.