SynthesisBMC cardiovascular disorders2012
N-Acetylcysteine supplementation for the prevention of atrial fibrillation after cardiac surgery: a meta-analysis of eight randomized controlled trials.
Synthesis in BMC cardiovascular disorders, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 35 citations in OpenAlex.
- N-Acetylcysteine for Cardiac Protection During Coronary Artery Reperfusion: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.Frontiers in cardiovascular medicine · 2021Pooled it
- N-acetylcysteine use among patients undergoing cardiac surgery: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized trials.PloS one · 2019Pooled it
- Efficacy of N-acetylcysteine in preventing atrial fibrillation after cardiac surgery: a meta-analysis of published randomized controlled trials.BMC cardiovascular disorders · 2014Pooled it
- Trial
- Improved oxidative status in major abdominal surgery patients after N-acetyl cystein supplementation.Nutrition journal · 2015Trial
- Oxidative status, inflammation, and postoperative atrial fibrillation with metoprolol vs carvedilol or carvedilol plus N-acetyl cysteine treatment.Clinical cardiology · 2014Trial
- Review
- Perioperative N-acetylcysteine: evidence and indications.Pain management · 2024Review
- N-Acetylcysteine and Atherosclerosis: Promises and Challenges.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- N-Acetylcysteine Supplementation for the Prevention of Postoperative Liver Dysfunction after On-Pump Cardiac Surgery.Turkish journal of anaesthesiology and reanimation · 2021Article
- Review
- New-Onset Atrial Fibrillation in Adult Patients After Cardiac Surgery.Current anesthesiology reports · 2019Article
- Pharmacological strategies for prevention of postoperative atrial fibrillation.Expert review of clinical pharmacology · 2015Review
- Alternative medicine in atrial fibrillation treatment-Yoga, acupuncture, biofeedback and more.Journal of thoracic disease · 2015Review
- Modification of intracellular glutathione status does not change the cardiac trapping of (64)Cu(ATSM).EJNMMI research · 2014Article
- Alcoholism: a systemic proinflammatory condition.World journal of gastroenterology · 2014Review
- Antioxidant therapies for the management of atrial fibrillation.Cardiovascular diagnosis and therapy · 2012Review
- Atrial fibrillation in the elderly: the potential contribution of reactive oxygen species.Journal of geriatric cardiology : JGC · 2012Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAtrial 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.
methodsMedline 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.
resultsEight 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).
conclusionsThe 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.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.