Observational studyClinical research in cardiology : official journal of the German Cardiac Society2022
Real-world applicability and impact of early rhythm control for European patients with atrial fibrillation: a report from the ESC-EHRA EORP-AF Long-Term General Registry.
Observational study in Clinical research in cardiology : official journal of the German Cardiac Society, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 27 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
27 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 46 citations in OpenAlex.
- Early rhythm control vs. rate control in atrial fibrillation: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in cardiovascular medicine · 2023Pooled it
- Effectiveness of early rhythm control in improving clinical outcomes in patients with atrial fibrillation: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC medicine · 2022Pooled it
- Education of healthcare professionals to improve guideline adherence in atrial fibrillation: the STEEER-AF cluster-randomized clinical trial.Nature medicine · 2025Trial
- Cost-effectiveness of early rhythm control vs. usual care in atrial fibrillation care: an analysis based on data from the EAST-AFNET 4 trial.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 · 2023Trial
- Beyond Sinus Rhythm: Rhythm Control and Mechanism-Based Secondary Prevention in Atrial Fibrillation-Related Stroke.Journal of atherosclerosis and thrombosis · 2026Review
- Kuwait Atrial Fibrillation Management Analysis-Insights From a Tertiary Center in Kuwait.Journal of arrhythmia · 2026Article
- Rhythm Control in Patients With Recently Diagnosed Atrial Fibrillation: Findings From the GLORIA-AF Registry Phase III.Journal of the American Heart Association · 2026Article
- Long-term outcome and predictors for recurrence after medical and interventional treatment of arrhythmias at the UniverSity Heart CenTer Hamburg (TRUST): design and patient profile snapshot of a prospective clinical cohort study.European heart journal open · 2026Article
- Impact of diagnosis-to-ablation time on left atrial remodeling and voltage-guided ablation outcome in persistent atrial fibrillation patients.Frontiers in cardiovascular medicine · 2026Article
- Real-World Use of ARNI Within GDMT in HFrEF Patients with and Without Atrial Fibrillation: A Retrospective Analysis of Cardiac and Renal Functions and Clinical Outcomes.Journal of cardiovascular development and disease · 2025Article
- Safety and efficacy of amiodarone and dronedarone for early rhythm control in EAST-AFNET 4.Clinical research in cardiology : official journal of the German Cardiac Society · 2025Article
- Effect of non-invasive rhythm control on outcomes in patients with first diagnosed atrial fibrillation presenting to an emergency department.BMC emergency medicine · 2025Observational
- Design and deployment of the STEEER-AF trial to evaluate and improve guideline adherence: a cluster-randomized trial by the European Society of Cardiology and European Heart Rhythm Association.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
- Heart Failure-Related Death in Subjects With Atrial Fibrillation in the United States, 1999 to 2020.Journal of the American Heart Association · 2024Article
- Atrial fibrillation: stroke prevention.The Lancet regional health. Europe · 2024Review
- Which Is Better? Rate Versus Rhythm Control in Atrial Fibrillation: A Systematic Review.Cureus · 2023Review
- Sex-related differences in presentation, treatment, and outcomes of Asian patients with atrial fibrillation: a report from the prospective APHRS-AF Registry.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Economic burden of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease: a matched case-control study in more than 450,000 Swedish individuals.BMC cardiovascular disorders · 2023Article
- Atrial fibrillation and stroke prevention: 25 years of research at EP Europace journal.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 · 2023Review
- Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction and atrial fibrillation: recent advances and open questions.BMC medicine · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
12 authors at 7 institutions in 8 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundUse of rate/rhythm control is essential to control symptoms in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). Recently, the EAST-AFNET 4 trial described how early rhythm control strategy was associated with a lower risk of adverse clinical outcomes.
objectivesThe aim was to evaluate the real-world applicability and impact of an early rhythm control strategy in patients with AF.
methodsUse of an early rhythm control strategy was assessed in a European cohort of AF patients derived from the EHRA-ESC EORP-AF General Long-Term Registry. Early rhythm control was defined as use of antiarrhythmic drugs or cardioversion/catheter ablation. The primary outcome included cardiovascular death, stroke, acute coronary syndrome, and worsening of heart failure. Quality of life and health-care resource usage were also assessed as outcomes.
resultsAmong the 10,707 patients evaluated for eligibility to EAST-AFNET 4, a total of 3774 (34.0%) were included. Early rhythm control was associated with better quality of life, but with greater use of health-care resources. During follow-up, the primary outcome occurred less often in early rhythm control patients than in those with no rhythm control (13.6% vs. 18.5%, p < 0.001). In the multivariate adjusted Cox regression model, no significant difference was found between no rhythm control and early rhythm control, for the primary outcome. No difference in the primary outcome between early rhythm control and 'no rhythm control patients' adherent to Atrial fibrillation Better Care (ABC) pathway' was evident (p = 0.753)
conclusionsUse of an early rhythm control strategy was associated with a lower rate of major adverse events, but this difference was non-significant on multivariate analysis, being mediated by differences in baseline characteristics and clinical risk profile. Early rhythm control was associated with a higher use of health-care resources and risk of hospital admission, despite showing better quality of life.
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.