‘Major impact on atrial fibrillation care’
In the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), a group of international researchers are presenting the results today. Prof. Harry Crijns (head of cardiology at Maastricht UMC +) is one of the project leaders: “These findings have a major impact on atrial fibrillation care.”
Heart rhythm disturbance
Atrial fibrillation is the most common form of a heart rhythm disorder. The general idea is often that treatment is not immediately necessary if the patient does not experience any complaints. In the first instance, an attempt is made to continue monitoring the heart rhythm and to suppress the symptoms of the atrial fibrillation if necessary.
Cardiovascular Complications
However, cardiovascular complications can develop over time after such a diagnosis is made. Think of a stroke, heart failure or a myocardial infarction, possibly even resulting in death. Early treatment could reduce the number of patients with complications, but until now there has been no hard evidence of its effectiveness.
Complications decrease
The researchers compared the current method of monitoring with early intervention by means of an ablation (burning of the rhythm disturbance in the heart) or the prescription of antiarrhythmic medication. As many as 2,789 patients from 135 hospitals in 11 European countries eventually took part in the study. Also in Maastricht UMC + and a number of other Dutch hospitals. Half of the patients were treated early, the other half followed the standard protocol of monitoring and symptom management. In the event that an actual treatment was performed early, the percentage of serious complications within one year fell to 3.9 percent compared to 5 percent in the group following the standard protocol.
Reform care
‘It may seem like a small gain,’ says Crijns. ‘But translate that into absolute numbers on an annual basis. Then in the Netherlands we are talking about hundreds of patients a year who are spared serious suffering. Those are then only the patients we see in the hospital. ‘ The results published in the New England Journal of Medicine are therefore reason to look differently at the care of atrial fibrillation, according to Crijns. ‘It is and will remain tailor-made, but we show that early ablation or medication can have benefits for the patient. Atrial fibrillation is not a harmless condition. ‘
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