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Had av ablasion and pacemaker insertion why does ekg still show afib

A MyHeartDiseaseTeam Member asked a question 💭
Brick Township, NJ
June 16
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Reducing Stroke Risk With Atrial Fibrillation (AFib) Read Article...
A MyHeartDiseaseTeam Member

@A MyHeartDiseaseTeam Member You and I are in the same boat. The reason that the EKG still shows AFIB is that you still have AFIB; the AV node ablation does not cure AFIB it stops the crazy signals from the top of the heart from reaching the ventricles. This ablation breaks the electrical connection between the upper and lower chambers of the heart, and the pacemaker takes over for the ablated AV node, sending only normal signals to the bottom chambers of the heart. So, you are always going to see AFIB on the EKG; mine always says permanent AFIB. I hope that helps. Let me know if you have other questions. I am so much better now that I have had the AVNode ablation.

June 16
MyHeartDiseaseTeam

That's a really valid and understandably confusing question — you've had procedures done, so why is the ECG still showing AFib?

An AV node ablation doesn't actually eliminate AFib. Instead, it blocks the electrical signals from the upper chambers (atria) reaching the lower chambers (ventricles). The pacemaker then takes Show Full Answer

That's a really valid and understandably confusing question — you've had procedures done, so why is the ECG still showing AFib?

An AV node ablation doesn't actually eliminate AFib. Instead, it blocks the electrical signals from the upper chambers (atria) reaching the lower chambers (ventricles). The pacemaker then takes over to keep the lower chambers beating steadily. This means the atria can still fibrillate (quiver irregularly), and an ECG can still detect that chaotic activity in the upper chambers. What the procedure and pacemaker do is protect the lower chambers from that chaos, giving a more controlled and stable heart rate overall.

So in short:
- The AFib pattern may still appear on an ECG because the atria are still involved
- The pacemaker ensures the lower chambers beat regularly despite this
- This is actually an expected outcome of AV node ablation, not necessarily a sign something went wrong

That said, it's always worth discussing the ECG results directly with a cardiologist to make sure everything is working as intended for the specific situation.

June 16

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