Are pacemakers effective at stopping atrial fibrillation

[Bigby]

I have atrial fibrillation and would like to know if a pacemaker would be better than having an ablation to eliminate the problem.

[bantam12]

I have Afib and a pacemaker but the Afib is controlled with meds and the pacemaker prevents bradycardia caused by the meds. I refused an ablation because I wasn't prepared to risk it not working.

[quickenthetempo in reply to bantam12]

Are you in AF or do you go in and out.

As I understand it if you go in and out of AF you will need to be on meds to stop your heart racing too high when in AF.

But when you come out of it those same meds can make your heart rate very low.

A pacemaker is triggered into action when the heart rate falls below a safe level.

[beardy_chris]

You might be better posting this on the AF Association forum. As I understand it, essentially pacemakers speed up the heart and don't slow it down - so aren't very useful for treating AF. They are sometimes necessary because the drugs for AF may slow the heart too much (tachy/brady syndrome) but a pacemaker is not generally seen as an alternative to an ablation.

There is a procedure called 'pace and ablate' which is sometimes used almost as a last resort where the AV node is ablated and the patient relies 100% on a pacemaker - but the heart usually stays in permanent AF in this situation. You'll find more information at heartrhythmalliance.org/afa...

I'm not a cardiologist or electrophysiologist so, as HappyJo says, it would be best to take advice from the experts.

[gokf]

I have had an ablation fo Af and it was successful. It took 6 months and I had to have a ecocardigram. Feeling an lot better now. My cardiologist is doing s trial for a new ablation to make it more accurate.

[seasider18]

I had a pacemaker fitted when in permanent AF as my heart rate was going down to 37bpm during the night with 3.5 second pauses and in 40's during the day.

It does not stop the AF. They say as my right atrium is enlarged that a cardioversion will not work.

I was told that an ablation might reduce the atrium size for a cardioversion to work but like bantam12 I turned it down.