25
views
0
recommends
+1 Recommend
0 collections
    0
    shares
      • Record: found
      • Abstract: found
      • Article: found
      Is Open Access

      N-acetylcysteine supplementation for the prevention of atrial fibrillation after cardiac surgery: a meta-analysis of eight randomized controlled trials

      research-article

      Read this article at

      Bookmark
          There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

          Abstract

          Background

          Atrial fibrillation is the most common type of arrhythmia after cardiac surgery. An increasing body of evidence demonstrates that oxidative stress plays a pivotal role in the pathophysiology of atrial fibrillation. N-acetylcysteine (NAC) is a free radical scavenger, and may attenuate this pathophysiologic response and reduce the incidence of postoperative AF (POAF). However, it is unclear whether NAC could effectively prevent POAF. Therefore, this meta-analysis aims to assess the efficacy of NAC supplementation on the prevention of POAF.

          Methods

          Medline and Embase were systematically reviewed for studies published up to November 2011, in which NAC was compared with controls for adult patients undergoing cardiac surgery. Outcome measures comprised the incidence of POAF and hospital length of stay (LOS). The meta-analysis was performed with the fixed-effect model or random-effect model according to the heterogeneity.

          Results

          Eight randomized trials incorporating 578 patients provided the best evidence and were included in this meta-analysis. NAC supplementation significantly reduced the incidence of POAF (OR 0.62, 95% CI 0.41 to 0.93; P = 0.021) compared with controls, but had no effect on LOS (WMD -0.07, 95% CI -0.42 to 0.28; P = 0.703).

          Conclusions

          The prophylactic NAC supplementation may effectively reduce the incidence of POAF. However, the overall quality of current studies is poor and further research should focus on adequately powered randomized controlled trials with POAF incidence as a primary outcome measure.

          Related collections

          Most cited references19

          • Record: found
          • Abstract: not found
          • Article: not found

          2011 ACCF/AHA/HRS focused updates incorporated into the ACC/AHA/ESC 2006 Guidelines for the management of patients with atrial fibrillation: a report of the American College of Cardiology Foundation/American Heart Association Task Force on Practice Guidelines developed in partnership with the European Society of Cardiology and in collaboration with the European Heart Rhythm Association and the Heart Rhythm Society.

            Bookmark
            • Record: found
            • Abstract: found
            • Article: not found

            Predictors of atrial fibrillation after coronary artery surgery. Current trends and impact on hospital resources.

            Atrial fibrillation (AF) after coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG) is the most common sustained arrhythmia. Its pathophysiology is unclear, and its prevention and management remain suboptimal. The aim of this prospective study was to determine the current incidence of AF, identify its clinical predictors, and examine its impact on resource utilization. Over a 12-month period ending July 31, 1994, a CABG procedure was performed on 570 consecutive patients (age range, 32 to 87 years; median age, 67 years; 232 [41%] were > or = 70 years; 175 [31%] were women; 173 [30%] were diabetics; 364 [65%] required nonelective surgery; 86 [15%] had had a prior CABG; and 86 [15%] had had prior percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty). AF occurred in 189 patients (33%). The median age for patients with AF was 71 years compared with 66 for patients without (P = .0001). Multivariate logistic regression analysis (odds ratio, +/- 95% CI, P value) was used to identify the following independent predictors of postoperative AF: increasing age (age 70 to 80 years [OR = 2; CI, 1.3 to 3; P = .002], age > 80 years [OR = 3; CI, 1.6 to 5.8; P = .0007]), male gender (OR = 1.7; CI, 1.1 to 2.7; P = .01), hypertension (OR = 1.6; CI, 1.0 to 2.3; P = .03), need for an intraoperative intraaortic balloon pump (OR = 3.5; CI, 1.2 to 10.9; P = .03), postoperative pneumonia (OR = 3.9; CI, 1.3 to 11.5; P = .01), ventilation for > 24 hours (OR = 2; CI, 1.3 to 3.2; P = .003), and return to the intensive care unit (OR = 3.2; CI, 1.1 to 8.8; P = .03). The mean length of hospital stay after surgery was 15.3 +/- 28.6 days for patients with AF compared with 9.3 +/- 19.6 days for patients without AF (P = .001). The adjusted length of hospital stay attributable to AF was 4.9 days, corresponding to > or = $10 055 in hospital charges. AF remains the most common complication after CABG and consequently is a drain on hospital resources. Concerted efforts to reduce the incidence of AF and the associated increased length of stay would result in substantial cost saving and decrease patient morbidity.
              Bookmark
              • Record: found
              • Abstract: not found
              • Article: not found

              Atrial arrhythmias after cardiothoracic surgery.

                Bookmark

                Author and article information

                Journal
                BMC Cardiovasc Disord
                BMC Cardiovasc Disord
                BMC Cardiovascular Disorders
                BioMed Central
                1471-2261
                2012
                24 February 2012
                : 12
                : 10
                Affiliations
                [1 ]Department of Cardiology, Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases, the First Affiliated Hospital, Guangxi Medical University, 22 Shuangyong Road, Nanning 530021, Guangxi, People's Republic of China
                [2 ]Department of Colorectal and Anal Surgery, the First Affiliated Hospital, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi, People's Republic of China
                [3 ]Department of Orthopaedics, China-Japan Union Hospital, Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin, People's Republic of China
                Article
                1471-2261-12-10
                10.1186/1471-2261-12-10
                3331849
                22364379
                c1e98b6e-ecc8-4b38-b207-acdefb73975d
                Copyright ©2012 Gu et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

                This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

                History
                : 16 December 2011
                : 24 February 2012
                Categories
                Research Article

                Cardiovascular Medicine
                Cardiovascular Medicine

                Comments

                Comment on this article