ArticleClinical and experimental emergency medicine2019
Effectiveness and safety of electrical cardioversion for acute-onset atrial fibrillation in the emergency department: a real-world 10-year single center experience.
Article in Clinical and experimental emergency medicine, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 2 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
14 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 32 citations in OpenAlex.
- Active Compression During External Cardioversion of Atrial Fibrillation: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.Annals of noninvasive electrocardiology : the official journal of the International Society for Holter and Noninvasive Electrocardiology, Inc · 2025Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Clinical Assessment of Thromboembolic Risk in Patients Undergoing Elective Electrical Cardioversion with or Without Transesophageal Echocardiography: A Real-World Observational Study.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2026Observational
- Perioperative atrial fibrillation after non-cardiac surgery - A narrative review.Clinical research in cardiology : official journal of the German Cardiac Society · 2026Review
- Short-Term Anticoagulation After Cardioversion in New-Onset Atrial Fibrillation and Low Thromboembolic Risk: A Real-World International Investigation.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2025Article
- A comparative review of current international atrial fibrillation guidelines from a primary care perspective.Malaysian family physician : the official journal of the Academy of Family Physicians of Malaysia · 2025Review
- Spotlight on the 2024 ESC/EACTS management of atrial fibrillation guidelines: 10 novel key aspects.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 · 2024Review
- What Mistakes Can Be Made When Performing the Electrical Cardioversion Procedure?-Analysis of Emergency Medical Team Performance during the Championships in Emergency Medicine.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Impact of Various Atrial Fibrillation Treatment Strategies on Length of Stay in the Emergency Department and Early Complications-3 Years of a Single-Center Experience.Journal of clinical medicine · 2023Article
- Shocked to death: a case report of cardiogenic shock and death following electrocardioversion for atrial fibrillation.BMC cardiovascular disorders · 2023Article
- Rapid Atrial Fibrillation in the Emergency Department.Heart international · 2022Review
- Orthogonal electrical cardioversion in atrial fibrillation refractory to biphasic shocks: a case series.European heart journal. Case reports · 2020Article
- Lumbar Compression Fracture Caused by Cardioversion.The American journal of case reports · 2020Article
- Is there any Link Between Vitamin D and Recurrence of Atrial Fibrillation after Cardioversion?Brazilian journal of cardiovascular surgery · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveDespite limited evidence, electrical cardioversion of acute-onset atrial fibrillation (AAF) is widely performed in the emergency department (ED). The aim of this study was to describe the effectiveness and safety of electrical cardioversion of AAF performed by emergency physicians in the ED.
methodsAll episodes of AAF electrically cardioverted in the ED were retrieved from the database for a 10-year period. Most patients not already receiving anticoagulants were given enoxaparin before the procedure (259/419). Procedural complications were recorded, and the patients were followed-up for 30 days for cardiovascular and hemorrhagic complications.
resultsFour hundred nineteen eligible cases were identified; men represented 69%, and mean age was 61±13 years. The procedure was effective in 403 cases (96.2%; 95.4% in women, 96.5% in men), with considerable differences with respect to the age of the patients, the procedure being effective in 100% of patients aged 18 to 39 and only 68.8% in those >80 years. New ED visits (33/419) were identified within 30 days (31 due to atrial fibrillation/atrial flutter recurrence, 1 due to iatrogenic hypokalemia, 1 due to hypertensive emergency). No strokes, major bleeding, life-threatening arrhythmias or peripheral thromboembolism were recorded. Nine small and mild skin burns were observed.
conclusionElectrical cardioversion is an effective and safe procedure in the vast majority of patients, albeit less effective in patients aged >80 years. It appears reasonable to avoid anticoagulation in low-risk patients with AAF and administer peri-procedural heparin to all remaining patients. Long-term anticoagulation should be planned on an individual basis, after assessment of thromboembolic and hemorrhagic risk.
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.