SynthesisEuropace : European pacing, arrhythmias, and cardiac electrophysiology : journal of the working groups on cardiac pacing, arrhythmias, and cardiac cellular electrophysiology of the European Society of Cardiology2023
Safety and efficacy of colchicine for the prevention of post-operative atrial fibrillation in patients undergoing cardiac surgery: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.
Synthesis 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, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers.
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
16 citing papers in PubMed, 27 citations in OpenAlex.
- Inflammation and day-to-day occurrence of 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 · 2026Trial
- The Immune System as a Proarrhythmic Mediator: A Novel Paradigm for the Development of New Antiarrhythmic Therapy.The Canadian journal of cardiology · 2026Review
- Differential effects of semaglutide and colchicine on atrial remodeling in rats with reduced ejection fraction after myocardial infarction.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 · 2026Article
- Pharmacological strategies for myocardial protection in cardiac surgery: current science and the emerging role of multi-omics and artificial intelligence.Frontiers in cardiovascular medicine · 2026Review
- A Combined Approach to the Prevention of Postoperative Atrial Fibrillation in Cardiac Surgery.Biomedicines · 2025Article
- Catheter Ablation for Atrial Fibrillation in Breast Cancer Survivors: An Exploratory Observational Study Using the French Nationwide Health Care Database Sample.Cancer reports (Hoboken, N.J.) · 2025Observational
- Balancing the benefits and risks of colchicine use among patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease: an umbrella review of meta-analyses of randomised controlled trials.EClinicalMedicine · 2025Article
- Immune cells and arrhythmias.Cardiovascular research · 2025Review
- Detection and management of postoperative atrial fibrillation after coronary artery bypass grafting or non-cardiac surgery: a survey by the AF-SCREEN International Collaboration.Internal and emergency medicine · 2025Article
- 2025 Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics: A Report of US and Global Data From the American Heart Association.Circulation · 2025Review
- The crucial importance of preventive and cardiac rehabilitation programmes in patients with atrial fibrillation: AF-CARE units.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 · 2025Article
- Exploring Anti-Inflammatory Treatment as Upstream Therapy in the Management of Atrial Fibrillation.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Review
- Colchicine prevents perioperative myocardial injury in cardiac surgery by inhibiting the formation of neutrophil extracellular traps: evidence from rat models.European journal of cardio-thoracic surgery : official journal of the European Association for Cardio-thoracic Surgery · 2024Article
- Article
- STAT4 Mediates IL-6 Trans-Signaling Arrhythmias in High Fat Diet Guinea Pig Heart.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Article
- Pericarditis prophylactic therapy after sinus node-sparing hybrid ablation for inappropriate sinus tachycardia/postural orthostatic sinus tachycardia.Heart rhythm O2 · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
16 authors at 5 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND
aimsColchicine is an anti-inflammatory drug that may prevent post-operative atrial fibrillation (POAF). The effect of this drug has been inconsistently shown in previous clinical trials. We aimed to compare the efficacy and safety of colchicine vs. placebo to prevent POAF in patients undergoing cardiac surgery. METHODS AND
resultsA systematic search of EMBASE, MEDLINE, SCOPUS, ClinicalTrials.gov, and the Cochrane Library for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) was conducted from inception till April 2023. The primary outcome was the incidence of POAF after any cardiac surgery. The secondary outcome was the rate of drug discontinuation due to adverse events and adverse gastrointestinal events. Risk ratios (RR) were reported using the Mantel Haenszel method. A total of eight RCTs comprising 1885 patients were included. There was a statistically significant lower risk of developing POAF with colchicine vs. placebo (RR: 0.70; 95% CI: 0.59-0.82; P < 0.01, I2 = 0%), and this effect persisted across different subgroups. There was a significantly higher risk of adverse gastrointestinal events (RR: 2.20; 95% CI: 1.38-3.51; P < 0.01, I2 = 55%) with no difference in the risk of drug discontinuation in patients receiving colchicine vs. placebo (RR: 1.33; 95% CI: 0.93-1.89; P = 0.11, I2 = 0%).
conclusionThis meta-analysis of eight RCTs shows that colchicine is effective at preventing POAF, with a significantly higher risk of adverse gastrointestinal events but no difference in the rate of drug discontinuation. Future studies are required to define the optimal duration and dose of colchicine for the prevention of POAF.
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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.