Evidence map›Paper›PMID 25117689›Full record

SynthesisBMC cardiovascular disorders2014

The preventive effect of atorvastatin on atrial fibrillation: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

Qian Yang, Xiaoyong Qi, Yingxiao Li

Open access · goldAbstract readMeta-AnalysisReview
In one paragraph

Synthesis in BMC cardiovascular disorders, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
13citing papers in PubMed
2.8field-weighted citation impact, top 9% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

13 citing papers in PubMed, 36 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Review
  2. Article
  3. Isolated coronary artery bypass grafting in septuagenarians.Indian journal of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery · 2024
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Qian Yang
Xiaoyong QiDepartment of Cardiology, Hebei General Hospital, Shijiazhuang, Hebei, People's Republic of China. hbghxiaoyong_q@126.com.
Yingxiao Li
Hebei General Hospital · CN

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundA number of clinical and experimental studies have investigated the effect of atorvastatin on atrial fibrillation (AF), but the results are equivocal. This meta-analysis was performed to evaluate whether atorvastatin can reduce the risk of AF in different populations.

methodsWe searched PubMed, EMBASE and the Cochrane Database for all published studies that examined the effect of atorvastatin therapy on AF up to April 2014. A random effects model was used when there was substantial heterogeneity and a fixed effects model when there was negligible heterogeneity.

resultsEighteen published studies including 9952 patients with sinus rhythm were identified for inclusion in the analysis. Ten studies investigated primary prevention of AF by atorvastatin in patients without AF, seven studies investigated secondary prevention of atorvastatin in patients with AF, and one study investigated mixed populations of patients. Overall, atorvastatin was associated with a decreased risk of AF (odds ratio (OR) 0.51, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.36-0.70, P < 0.0001). However, subgroup analyses showed that in the primary prevention subgroup (OR 0.55, 95% CI 0.38-0.81, P = 0.002), atorvastatin reduced the risk of new-onset AF in patients after coronary surgery (OR 0.44, 95% CI 0.29-0.68, P = 0.0002), but had no beneficial effect in patients without coronary surgery (OR 0.97, 95% CI 0.59-1.58, P = 0.89); in the secondary prevention subgroup, atorvastatin had no beneficial effect on AF recurrence in patients with electrical cardioversion (EC) (OR 0.57, 95% CI 0.25-1.32, P = 0.19) or without EC (OR 0.38, 95% CI 0.14-1.06, P = 0.06).

conclusionsThis meta-analysis suggests that atorvastatin has an overall protective effect against AF. However, this preventive effect was not seen in all types of AF. Atorvastatin was significantly associated with a decreased risk of new-onset AF in patients after coronary surgery. Moreover, atorvastatin did not prove to exert a significant protective effect against the AF recurrences in both patients who had experienced sinus rhythm restoration by means of EC and those who had obtained cardioversion by means of drug therapy. Thus, further prospective studies are warranted.

Indexed as

Anti-Arrhythmia AgentsAtorvastatinAtrial FibrillationChi-Square DistributionHeptanoic AcidsHumansHydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase InhibitorsOdds RatioPrimary PreventionPyrrolesRandomized Controlled Trials as TopicRecurrenceRisk FactorsSecondary PreventionTreatment OutcomeAnti-Arrhythmia AgentsAtorvastatinHeptanoic AcidsHydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase InhibitorsPyrroles

Identifiers

PMID25117689
PMCPMC4135360
OpenAlexW1986540185

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

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.