Early post-ablation atrial fibrillation recurrence: Time to blank the blanking period?
Early recurrence of atrial arrhythmia (ERA) is commonly seen following catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation (AF), with reported incidences of up to 61% in the first three months.1 ERA is often attributed to transient inflammation induced by tissue damage during ablation and short-term imbalances in autonomic innervation. This forms the physiologic rationale for the accepted convention of a 3-month blanking period, during which arrhythmia recurrences are presumed to be relatively benign and not indicative of treatment failure.