Trial reportEuropace : European pacing, arrhythmias, and cardiac electrophysiology : journal of the working groups on cardiac pacing, arrhythmias, and cardiac cellular electrophysiology of the European Society of Cardiology2022
Rate control drugs differ in the prevention of progression of atrial fibrillation.
Trial report in 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, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 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
20 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 26 citations in OpenAlex.
- 2023 ACC/AHA/ACCP/HRS Guideline for the Diagnosis and Management of Atrial Fibrillation: A Report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Joint Committee on Clinical Practice Guidelines.Journal of the American College of Cardiology · 2024Guideline
- Guideline
- Effect of Digoxin vs Beta-Blockers on Left Atrial Strain for Heart Rate-Controlled Atrial Fibrillation: The DIGOBET-AF Randomized Clinical Trial.American journal of cardiovascular drugs : drugs, devices, and other interventions · 2025Trial
- Perioperative atrial fibrillation after non-cardiac surgery - A narrative review.Clinical research in cardiology : official journal of the German Cardiac Society · 2026Review
- Outcomes of beta-blocker use in people living with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and a co-existent beta-blocker indicated cardiovascular disease. Insights from a global federated network.BMC pulmonary medicine · 2026Observational
- Rate control treatment with calcium channel blockers and beta blockers for patients with atrial fibrillation: a systematic review and meta-analysis.European heart journal open · 2026Article
- Frequently Underappreciated Considerations in Anti-arrhythmic Drug Therapy.The Journal of innovations in cardiac rhythm management · 2026Review
- Comparison of non-dihydropyridine calcium channel blockers with beta blockers as treatment for atrial fibrillation: protocol for a systematic review with meta-analysis.Systematic reviews · 2026Article
- Calcium Homeostatic Feedback Control Predicts Atrial Fibrillation Initiation, Remodeling, and Progression.JACC. Clinical electrophysiology · 2025Article
- Atrial Fibrillation in Elite Athletes: A Comprehensive Review of the Literature.Journal of cardiovascular development and disease · 2024Review
- Definition and management of arrhythmia-induced cardiomyopathy: findings from the European Heart Rhythm Association survey.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 · 2024Article
- Beta Blockers in Contemporary Cardiology: Is It Better to Cast Them Out?Korean circulation journal · 2024Review
- Atrial fibrillation: better symptom control with rate and rhythm management.The Lancet regional health. Europe · 2024Review
- An Updated Review on the Role of Non-dihydropyridine Calcium Channel Blockers and Beta-blockers in Atrial Fibrillation and Acute Decompensated Heart Failure: Evidence and Gaps.Cardiovascular drugs and therapy · 2023Review
- Brady- and tachyarrhythmias detected by continuous rhythm monitoring in paroxysmal atrial fibrillation.Heart (British Cardiac Society) · 2023Observational
- Time of onset of atrial fibrillation and atrial fibrillation progression data from the RACE V study.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 · 2023Article
- Ventricular rate in atrial fibrillation and the risk of heart failure and death.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 · 2023Article
- Beta-blockers in atrial fibrillation-trying to make sense of unsettling results.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 · 2023Article
- A Year in Review: Atrial Fibrillation 2022.The Journal of innovations in cardiac rhythm management · 2023Article
- Atrial fibrillation: primary prevention, secondary prevention, and prevention of thromboembolic complications: part 1.Frontiers in cardiovascular medicine · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
15 authors at 8 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
aimsWe hypothesize that in patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (AF), verapamil is associated with lower AF progression compared to beta blockers or no rate control. METHODS AND
resultsIn this pre-specified post hoc analysis of the RACE 4 randomized trial, the effect of rate control medication on AF progression in paroxysmal AF was analysed. Patients using Vaughan-Williams Class I or III antiarrhythmic drugs were excluded. The primary outcome was a composite of first electrical cardioversion (ECV), chemical cardioversion (CCV), or atrial ablation. Event rates are displayed using Kaplan-Meier curves and multivariable Cox regression analyses are used to adjust for baseline differences. Out of 666 patients with paroxysmal AF, 47 used verapamil, 383 used beta blockers, and 236 did not use rate control drugs. The verapamil group was significantly younger than the beta blocker group and contained more men than the no rate control group. Over a mean follow-up of 37 months, the primary outcome occurred in 17% in the verapamil group, 33% in the beta blocker group, and 33% in the no rate control group (P = 0.038). After adjusting for baseline characteristics, patients using verapamil have a significantly lower chance of receiving ECV, CCV, or atrial ablation compared to patients using beta blockers [hazard ratio (HR) 0.40, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.19-0.83] and no rate control (HR 0.64, 95% CI 0.44-0.93).
conclusionIn patients with newly diagnosed paroxysmal AF, verapamil was associated with less AF progression, as compared to beta blockers and no rate control.
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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.