Catheter Ablation
Minimally invasive procedure that uses catheter-delivered energy to stop atrial fibrillation (AFib)
Catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation (AFib) uses a variety of different energy sources to destroy the cells causing irregular heart rhythm.
To pump blood normally, your heart’s pacemaker cells generate an electrical impulse in a specific location (sinoatrial node). During atrial fibrillation (AFib or AF), abnormally rapid electrical impulses start in the pulmonary veins and spread to the rest of the atrium.
AFib is the most common type of abnormal heart rhythm (arrhythmia). Just like starting a fire, your heart needs a spark, or an electrical signal, to start an episode of AFib. That trigger tends to occur in cells located in the pulmonary veins (blood coming from lungs into left atrium). They can generate very rapid electrical activity and create the perfect storm for the heart to go into atrial fibrillation.
During a catheter ablation procedure, our specialists find and ablate (destroy) these cells using several different energy sources. You undergo this procedure in a catheterization lab (cath lab). A cath lab is a special hospital room equipped with the sophisticated tools needed for these procedures.
Catheter ablation generally lasts around two to four hours, with most patients going home the same day to recover. During this minimally invasive procedure, your medical team:
- Puts you to sleep using anesthesia
- Introduce small plastic tubes into the veins in your groin (one or both sides)
- Uses those small tubes to thread thin, insulated wires (catheters) with electrodes (sensors) through the blood vessels and into your heart
- Maps the areas responsible for the AFib and destroys them
What to Expect During Catheter Ablation
To pump blood normally, your heart’s pacemaker cells generate an electrical impulse in a specific location (sinoatrial node). During atrial fibrillation (AFib or AF), abnormally rapid electrical impulses start in the pulmonary veins and spread to the rest of the atrium.
AFib is the most common type of abnormal heart rhythm (arrhythmia). Just like starting a fire, your heart needs a spark, or an electrical signal, to start an episode of AFib. That trigger tends to occur in cells located in the pulmonary veins (blood coming from lungs into left atrium). They can generate very rapid electrical activity and create the perfect storm for the heart to go into atrial fibrillation.
During a catheter ablation procedure, our specialists find and ablate (destroy) these cells using several different energy sources. You undergo this procedure in a catheterization lab (cath lab). A cath lab is a special hospital room equipped with the sophisticated tools needed for these procedures.
Catheter ablation generally lasts around two to four hours, with most patients going home the same day to recover. During this minimally invasive procedure, your medical team:
- Puts you to sleep using anesthesia
- Introduce small plastic tubes into the veins in your groin (one or both sides)
- Uses those small tubes to thread thin, insulated wires (catheters) with electrodes (sensors) through the blood vessels and into your heart
- Maps the areas responsible for the AFib and destroys them
Watch: What to Expect with Catheter Ablation
Learn from IU Health providers about how ablation treats atrial fibrillation and what to expect on the day of your procedure.
At IU Health Heart & Vascular Care, we perform thousands of catheter ablations — more than anywhere else in Indiana. Our experience helps us deliver great results, no matter how routine or complex the procedure. We also provide:
Dedicated AFib specialists
Our heart rhythm specialists provide outstanding care convenient to where you live and work. Primary care physicians and heart specialists refer patients from across the region to them. Patients without referrals are also welcome.
Our specialists regularly meet with other leading heart experts to discuss and plan your care. We use medicine therapy, advanced procedures and innovative equipment to handle even the most difficult-to-treat arrhythmias.
The latest catheterization technology
Our heart specialists use sophisticated equipment to create real-time, 3D images of your heart and strive to precisely ablate only the heart tissue responsible for your arrhythmia. Advanced navigation tools act like GPS, guiding your doctor to the exact location of signals responsible for atrial fibrillation.
This technology has led to safer, shorter procedures. It also reduces your radiation exposure by eliminating the need for X-rays, in many cases.
AFib research and clinical trials
We actively study ways to improve patient care and outcomes. Our clinical research program gives you access to promising new treatments before they become widely available. These innovative studies include using other sources of energy and mapping technologies.
Personalized treatments
We use different energy sources to treat AFib. To determine the best approach for you, we consider your anatomy and overall AFib care plan. We use different energy sources to treat AFib:
- Heat energy: We treat AFib with heat (radiofrequency energy) using a catheter to destroy tissue responsible for the arrhythmia. Because catheters are very flexible, we can precisely target any areas within the heart. This versatile tool set allows us to ablate any kind of arrhythmia. Energy is delivered point by point within the heart.
- Cold energy: Cryoballoon ablation uses the power of cold to treat AFib. We use a large balloon catheter to disable the cells responsible for arrhythmias with a limited number of “freezes” in the areas responsible for the arrhythmia.
- Pulse-field energy: We treat AFib with special catheters that deliver specially-designed high-voltage pulses that destroy the tissue responsible for the arrhythmia while minimally affecting nearby normal tissue.
Catheter Ablation at IU Health
At IU Health Heart & Vascular Care, we perform thousands of catheter ablations — more than anywhere else in Indiana. Our experience helps us deliver great results, no matter how routine or complex the procedure. We also provide:
Dedicated AFib specialists
Our heart rhythm specialists provide outstanding care convenient to where you live and work. Primary care physicians and heart specialists refer patients from across the region to them. Patients without referrals are also welcome.
Our specialists regularly meet with other leading heart experts to discuss and plan your care. We use medicine therapy, advanced procedures and innovative equipment to handle even the most difficult-to-treat arrhythmias.
The latest catheterization technology
Our heart specialists use sophisticated equipment to create real-time, 3D images of your heart and strive to precisely ablate only the heart tissue responsible for your arrhythmia. Advanced navigation tools act like GPS, guiding your doctor to the exact location of signals responsible for atrial fibrillation.
This technology has led to safer, shorter procedures. It also reduces your radiation exposure by eliminating the need for X-rays, in many cases.
AFib research and clinical trials
We actively study ways to improve patient care and outcomes. Our clinical research program gives you access to promising new treatments before they become widely available. These innovative studies include using other sources of energy and mapping technologies.
Personalized treatments
We use different energy sources to treat AFib. To determine the best approach for you, we consider your anatomy and overall AFib care plan. We use different energy sources to treat AFib:
- Heat energy: We treat AFib with heat (radiofrequency energy) using a catheter to destroy tissue responsible for the arrhythmia. Because catheters are very flexible, we can precisely target any areas within the heart. This versatile tool set allows us to ablate any kind of arrhythmia. Energy is delivered point by point within the heart.
- Cold energy: Cryoballoon ablation uses the power of cold to treat AFib. We use a large balloon catheter to disable the cells responsible for arrhythmias with a limited number of “freezes” in the areas responsible for the arrhythmia.
- Pulse-field energy: We treat AFib with special catheters that deliver specially-designed high-voltage pulses that destroy the tissue responsible for the arrhythmia while minimally affecting nearby normal tissue.
When you receive a diagnosis of AFib, your cardiologist will work with you to develop an AFib care plan. They can assess whether you are a good candidate for catheter ablation. The American Heart Association offers resources to help you discuss your goals and options for AFib with your doctor.
Catheter Ablation and Your AFib Care Plan
When you receive a diagnosis of AFib, your cardiologist will work with you to develop an AFib care plan. They can assess whether you are a good candidate for catheter ablation. The American Heart Association offers resources to help you discuss your goals and options for AFib with your doctor.
Before your procedure, we explain your personal risk factors for AFib. We also provide support to help you address them. For example, we can connect you with a dietitian to help with weight management or a pulmonologist (lung doctor) to treat sleep apnea.
To prepare for anesthesia, you should avoid eating after midnight the night before your procedure.
Preparing for Catheter Ablation
Before your procedure, we explain your personal risk factors for AFib. We also provide support to help you address them. For example, we can connect you with a dietitian to help with weight management or a pulmonologist (lung doctor) to treat sleep apnea.
To prepare for anesthesia, you should avoid eating after midnight the night before your procedure.
The day after your procedure, you may start getting back to normal. You should be able to walk around and drive.
If your job is not too physically demanding, you may return to work within a few days. Within four to five days, you can resume regular activities.
What to Expect After Catheter Ablation
The day after your procedure, you may start getting back to normal. You should be able to walk around and drive.
If your job is not too physically demanding, you may return to work within a few days. Within four to five days, you can resume regular activities.
How effective is ablation for AFib?
Your healthcare provider can help you set expectations for the outcome of your ablation procedure. The organization StopAFib.org reports a 70% success rate. Most patients are able to stop medication for AFib following the procedure. Your results may depend on how long you have had AFib, the size of your heart’s left atrium, and other factors. Read more about who benefits from cardiac ablation.
Can anything bad happen during an ablation procedure?
Complications can occur with any type of procedure. While the list of possible complications with catheter ablation is long, and many can be serious, over 95% of cases have no or only minor complications (i.e., temporary groin bruising). Your doctor can discuss these more thoroughly while planning the procedure.
What is convergent ablation or hybrid ablation?
In some cases, catheter ablation may be performed at the same time as a minimally invasive surgical ablation outside the heart. When the procedures are performed together, they are called hybrid, or convergent ablation.
Do I need to take blood thinners, or anticoagulants, after the procedure?
Everyone needs to take blood thinners (anticoagulants) for at least several weeks after the ablation procedure. Whether such treatment is needed longer-term depends on your underlying risk factors for stroke (diabetes, hypertension, congestive heart failure, age and prior stroke history). Your doctor will discuss your options with you.
What kind of follow-up care will I need?
We usually see patients within a week or two of their procedure. You return at three months for a check-up, and we follow-up with you once or twice a year. You may also see your primary care physician during this time.
Frequently Asked Questions About Catheter Ablation
How effective is ablation for AFib?
Your healthcare provider can help you set expectations for the outcome of your ablation procedure. The organization StopAFib.org reports a 70% success rate. Most patients are able to stop medication for AFib following the procedure. Your results may depend on how long you have had AFib, the size of your heart’s left atrium, and other factors. Read more about who benefits from cardiac ablation.
Can anything bad happen during an ablation procedure?
Complications can occur with any type of procedure. While the list of possible complications with catheter ablation is long, and many can be serious, over 95% of cases have no or only minor complications (i.e., temporary groin bruising). Your doctor can discuss these more thoroughly while planning the procedure.
What is convergent ablation or hybrid ablation?
In some cases, catheter ablation may be performed at the same time as a minimally invasive surgical ablation outside the heart. When the procedures are performed together, they are called hybrid, or convergent ablation.
Do I need to take blood thinners, or anticoagulants, after the procedure?
Everyone needs to take blood thinners (anticoagulants) for at least several weeks after the ablation procedure. Whether such treatment is needed longer-term depends on your underlying risk factors for stroke (diabetes, hypertension, congestive heart failure, age and prior stroke history). Your doctor will discuss your options with you.
What kind of follow-up care will I need?
We usually see patients within a week or two of their procedure. You return at three months for a check-up, and we follow-up with you once or twice a year. You may also see your primary care physician during this time.