Catheter ablation in patients with atrial fibrillation with systolic impairment can result in improvement of their long‐term prognosis. However, during long‐term follow‐up, increases in atrial tachyarrhythmia (ATA) recurrence occur. In this study, the impact of ATA recurrence on the development of long‐term adverse clinical events following catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation was determined and predictors for the development of adverse clinical events were identified.

• In this single‐center observational study, a total of 75 patients with systolic impairment (left ventricular ejection fraction < 50%), who underwent the first catheter ablation procedure for atrial fibrillation, were studied.

• The groups with and without ATA recurrence following the first and last procedures were compared with respect to the cumulative incidence of adverse clinical events (all‐cause death, heart failure hospitalization, stroke, or acute myocardial infarction).

• At a median of 2.2 (range: 0.64–2.8) years following the first procedure, adverse clinical events developed in 21 patients (28%).

• Following the first procedure, there was a significantly lower proportion of freedom from adverse clinical events in the ATA recurrence group than the nonrecurrence group; a similar tendency was observed for the proportion following the last procedure.

• After multivariable adjustment, researchers identified independent predictive value of ATA recurrence for adverse clinical events following both procedures.