Evidence map›Paper›PMID 26318871›Full record

SynthesisBMC cardiovascular disorders2015

Colchicine in cardiac disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

Subodh Verma, John W Eikelboom, Stefan M Nidorf, Mohammed Al-Omran, Nandini Gupta, Hwee Teoh, Jan O Friedrich

Registry-linked trialOpen access · goldAbstract readMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in BMC cardiovascular disorders, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04218786 (Outcomes of Low-dose Colchicine in Patients With Myocardial Infarction), which is not on this map. Cited by 56 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
56citing papers in PubMed, 6 pooled it
8.7field-weighted citation impact, top 2% 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.

NCT04218786 phase2withdrawnnot on this mapstarted 2025, after this paper: background citation

Outcomes of Low-dose Colchicine in Patients With Myocardial Infarction: A Randomized Controlled Trial

TypeinterventionalSponsorShifa Tameer-e-Millat UniversityRan2025 to 2026Enrolled0ConditionsMyocardium, Injury, Myocardial Infarction, Myocardial IschemiaArmsColchicine, Placebo oral tablet
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

56 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 139 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Colchicine for the primary prevention of cardiovascular events.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2025
    Pooled it
  2. Guideline
  3. Pooled it
  4. Pooled it
  5. Pooled it
  6. Colchicine for prevention of cardiovascular events.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2016
    Pooled it
  7. Trial
  8. Colchicine initiated before radiofrequency-induced injury attenuates left atrial inflammation, fibrosis, and susceptibility to atrial fibrillation.Europace : European pacing, arrhythmias, and cardiac electrophysiology : journal of the working groups on cardiac pacing, arrhythmias, and cardiac cellular electrophysiology of the European Society of Cardiology · 2026
    Article
  9. Preventing Postpericardiotomy Syndrome: Current Evidence and Future Directions.Journal of cardiovascular development and disease · 2026
    Review
  10. From Bench to Clinic: Advances in Anti-Inflammatory Therapies for Atherosclerotic Coronary Artery Disease.FASEB journal : official publication of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology · 2025
    Review
  11. Article
  12. Review
  13. Review
  14. Article
  15. Review
  16. Review
  17. Article
  18. Review
  19. Review
  20. Review
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

7 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Subodh VermaDivision of Cardiac Surgery, Keenan Research Centre for Biomedical Science and Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada. vermasu@smh.ca.
John W EikelboomDepartment of Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada. eikelbj@mcmaster.ca.
Stefan M NidorfHeart Research Institute, Perth, WA, Australia. smnidorf@gmail.com.
Mohammed Al-OmranDivision of Vascular Surgery, Keenan Research Centre for Biomedical Science and Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada. alomranm@smh.ca.
Nandini GuptaDepartment of Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada. nandini.gupta@medportal.ca.
Hwee TeohDivision of Cardiac Surgery, Keenan Research Centre for Biomedical Science and Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada. teohh@smh.ca.
Jan O FriedrichDepartment of Medicine, Keenan Research Centre for Biomedical Science and Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada. FriedrichJ@smh.ca.
St. Michael's Hospital · CAMcMaster University · CAThe Heart Research Institute · AU

Funding

Canadian Institutes of Health Research
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundColchicine has unique anti-inflammatory properties that may be beneficial in various cardiovascular conditions. This systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) examines this issue.

methodsWe searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Database from inception to June 2014 for RCTs using colchicine in adult patients with cardiac diseases. Results were pooled using random effects.

results15 RCTs (n = 3431 patients, median treatment 3 and follow-up 15 months) were included. All but 2 used colchicine 1 mg/day. In 5 trials, n = 1301) at risk for cardiovascular disease (coronary artery disease, acute coronary syndrome or stroke, post-angioplasty [2 RCTs], or congestive heart failure), colchicine reduced composite cardiovascular outcomes by ~60 % (risk ratio [RR] 0.44, 95 % confidence interval [CI] 0.28-0.69, p = 0.0004; I(2) = 0 %) and showed a trend towards lower all-cause mortality (RR 0.50, 95 % CI 0.23-1.08, p = 0.08; I(2) = 0 %). In pericarditis or post-cardiotomy, colchicine decreased recurrent pericarditis or post-pericardiotomy syndrome (RR 0.50, 95 % CI 0.41-0.60, p < 0.0001; I(2) = 0 %; 8 RCTs, n = 1635), and post-pericardiotomy or ablation induced atrial fibrillation (RR 0.65, 95 % CI 0.51-0.82, p = 0.0003; I(2) = 31 %; 4 RCTs, n = 1118). The most common adverse event was diarrhea. Treatment discontinuation overall and due to adverse events (RR 4.34, 95 % CI 1.70-11.07, p = 0.002; I(2) = 29 %; 7 RCTs, 83/790 [10.5 %] vs. 11/697 [1.6 %]) was higher in colchicine-assigned patients.

conclusionsCurrent RCT data suggests that colchicine may reduce the composite rate of cardiovascular adverse outcomes in a range of patients with established cardiovascular disease. Furthermore, colchicine reduces rates of recurrent pericarditis, post-pericardiotomy syndrome, and peri-procedural atrial fibrillation following cardiac surgery. Further RCTs evaluating the potential of colchicine for secondary prevention of cardiovascular events would be of interest.

Indexed as

ColchicineHeart DiseasesHumansRandomized Controlled Trials as TopicColchicine

Identifiers

PMID26318871
PMCPMC4553011
OpenAlexW1961466730

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

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.