It is reasonable to expect that your normal heartbeat will return after this procedure. In addition, you can expect some relief of symptoms such as shortness of breath, fatigue, chest pain, and palpitations that are related to your abnormal heartbeat. With a successful procedure, your risk of complications from abnormal heartbeats such as blood clots and stroke will be reduced.

The success rate of conversion to a normal rhythm will vary with your individual situation. Certain factors that will affect the success of this procedure are your overall state of health, your age, the structure of your heart, the cause of the abnormal rhythm, and how long you have had it.

Correcting abnormal heartbeats with this procedure is successful in 35 to 90 out of 100 patients, which is a wide range. The range is wide because the success depends on which medication is used and the cause of the original abnormal heartbeat.

However, once your heartbeat is normal, keeping a normal heartbeat for a long time after the procedure can be difficult. There are many people that will develop the same abnormal heartbeat again during the year following cardioversion. Some patients may develop an entirely new type of abnormal heartbeat.

The long-term success of your normal heart rhythm depends on your individual circumstances and what was causing the abnormal rhythm in the first place.

Your doctor will be able to give you a better estimate of your expected success rate, based on your particular situation.