Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36569126›Full record

SynthesisFrontiers in medicine2022

Acupuncture for premature ventricular complexes without ischemic or structural heart diseases: A systematic review and meta-analysis of clinical and pre-clinical evidence.

Yiyi Cai, Claire Shuiqing Zhang, Shaonan Liu, Li Zhou, Boyan Tang, Wensheng Chen

Open access · goldAbstract readSystematic Review
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Frontiers in medicine, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
1.9field-weighted citation impact, top 14% 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

1 citing paper in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 6 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Efficacy and safety of acupuncture for arrythmias: an overview of systematic reviews and Meta-analyses.Journal of traditional Chinese medicine = Chung i tsa chih ying wen pan · 2025
    Pooled it
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

6 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Yiyi CaiState Key Laboratory of Dampness Syndrome of Chinese Medicine, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine, The Second Clinical College of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China.
Claire Shuiqing ZhangSchool of Health and Biomedical Sciences, STEM College, RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
Shaonan LiuState Key Laboratory of Dampness Syndrome of Chinese Medicine, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine, The Second Clinical College of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China.
Li ZhouState Key Laboratory of Dampness Syndrome of Chinese Medicine, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine, The Second Clinical College of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China.
Boyan TangState Key Laboratory of Dampness Syndrome of Chinese Medicine, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine, The Second Clinical College of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China.
Wensheng ChenState Key Laboratory of Dampness Syndrome of Chinese Medicine, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine, The Second Clinical College of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China.
Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine · CNRMIT University · AU

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: With increasing evidence suggesting potential benefits, acupuncture is often applied to the treatment of premature ventricular complexes (PVCs), particularly in symptomatic patients who fail or are unsuitable for medications or refuse catheter ablation. However, the existing clinical evidence is inconsistent. Objectives: This review aims to systematically evaluate the effectiveness and safety of acupuncture therapies for PVCs without ischemic or structural heart diseases, when it is compared with sham/placebo acupuncture or usual care, or used as an add-on therapy to routine care; and to summarize existing pre-clinical research evidence supporting the effects of acupuncture therapies for this clinical condition. Methods: Four English-language databases, four Chinese-language databases and seven clinical registries were searched from their inceptions to May 21, 2021 and updated to November 01, 2022. Trials comparing acupuncture with sham acupuncture or evaluating the add-on effects of acupuncture were included. Primary outcomes are the number of premature ventricular beats (PVBs) and effective rate defined as "the proportion of participants with over 50% decrease in the number of PVBs from baseline to the end of treatment measured by 24-h Holter". Results: A total of 479 records were identified with nine trials involving 847 participants included in this review. Meta-analysis on two sham-control trials with low risk of bias for all domains suggested that acupuncture could significantly reduce the number of PVBs (RR 3.83, 95% CI [2.19, 6.7], Conclusion: Sham-controlled RCT evidence with moderate-level certainty suggested that acupuncture could be a therapeutic option to reduce the burden of PVBs in patients without ischemic or structural heart diseases. Further clinical studies using validated and reliable outcome measurement instruments and bench research to unveil the mechanisms of acupuncture stimulation and point-specific effects for PVCs are needed. Systematic review registration: [https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/display_record.php?RecordID=262132], identifier [CRD42021262132].

Indexed as

acupuncturemeta-analysisrandomized controlled trialsystematic reviewventricular premature complexes

Identifiers

PMID36569126
PMCPMC9773094
OpenAlexW4311862123

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

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.