Marko Zivkovic

The Apple Watch could prove useful to patients who have undergone atrial fibrillation ablation.

The Apple Watch has plenty of potential for health monitoring even after discovery of a condition, and a new study outlines its usefulness in monitoring patients after atrial fibrillation ablation.

While a January 2026 study examined the role of the Apple Watch in identifying undiagnosed atrial fibrillation, a separate research paper suggests the smartwatch could help those who have received treatment for irregular heartbeats by reducing unplanned hospitalizations.

The clinical trial, conducted by St Bartholomew's Hospital in London, focused on patients who had undergone atrial fibrillation catheter ablation. This is a minimally invasive procedure that restores normal heart rhythm by causing small scars in the tissue via freezing or heat.

168 patients were part of the clinical trial, and they were divided into two groups.

Patients in the first group were loaned an Apple Watch Series 5, and were told to conduct an electrocardiogram each day, and whenever the Apple Watch prompted them to do so, for 12 months. 

The control group, meanwhile, only underwent interval clinical appointments at three, six, and 12 months, with an atrial fibrillation expert.

The results of the study indicated that those wearing the Apple Watch had a higher likelihood of atrial fibrillation recurrence detection. The median time frame for recurrence detection was also shorter in the Apple Watch group, being 116 days, as opposed to 132 days with the control group.

Recurring atrial fibrillation was also detected more often with those wearing an Apple Watch, with 52.9% of the group, compared to just 34.9% of the patients who received only standard care. According to the study, these results were "driven by more cases of paroxysmal AF."

The total amount of unplanned hospitalizations was also lower in the patient group that wore an Apple Watch — 22 wearers versus 47 in the control group. Patients who wore an Apple Watch were less likely to be hospitalized, as the device is capable of "providing rapid differentiation of atrial fibrillation from benign arrhythmias or unrelated symptoms."

Apple Watch-based monitoring "reduced the time to recurrent arrhythmia detection, increased the overall detection yield, and was associated with fewer unplanned hospitalizations compared with standard care," concludes the study. "These findings may support the integration of patient-owned wearable devices into structured postablation follow-up pathways."

The results of the study aren't all that surprising. Apple's smartwatch, with its ECG hardware, has been credited with saving the lives of its users and even detecting undiagnosed atrial fibrillation. 

Overall, the benefits of owning an Apple Watch are clear, with clinical trials such as these perfectly illustrating why that's the case. As for what's in store for the Apple Watch going forward, we could see improved health predictions with the help of AI, including ChatGPT.