Are beta-blockers effective for preventing post-coronary artery bypass grafting atrial fibrillation? Direct and network meta-analyses

An Overview of the Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics of Landiolol (an Ultra-Short Acting β1 Selective Antagonist) in Atrial Fibrillation

Landiolol is an ultra-short-acting, selective β1-adrenergic receptor blocker that was originally approved in Japan for the treatment of intraoperative tachyarrhythmias. It has gained attention for its use in the management of tachyarrhythmias and perioperative tachycardia, especially atrial fibrillation for both cardiac and non-cardiac surgeries. It can be the ideal agent for heart rate control due to its high β1-selectivity, potent negative chronotropic effect, a limited negative inotropic potential, and an ultrashort elimination half-life (around 4 min); moreover, it may have a potential therapeutic effects for sepsis and pediatric patients. Landiolol seems to be superior to other short-acting and selective beta-blockers such as esmolol. This review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of landiolol, a new ultra-short-acting β1 selective antagonist, including its pharmacology, clinical applications, efficacy, safety profile, and future directions in research and clinical data.

OUP accepted manuscript

Rate and rhythm control are still considered equivalent strategies for symptom control using the Atrial Fibrillation Better Care algorithm recommended by the recent atrial fibrillation guideline. In acute situations or critically ill patients, a personalized approach should be used for rapid rhythm or rate control. Even though electrical cardioversion is generally indicated in haemodynamically unstable patients or for rapid effective rhythm control in critically ill patients, this is not always possible due to the high percentage of failure or relapses in such patients. Rate control remains the background therapy for all these patients, and often rapid rate control is mandatory. Short and rapid-onset-acting beta-blockers are the most suitable drugs for acute rate control. Esmolol was the classical example; however, landiolol a newer very selective beta-blocker, recently included in the European atrial fibrillation guideline, has a more favourable pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic profile with less haemodynamic interference and is better appropriate for critically ill patients.

New-Onset Atrial Fibrillation in Adult Patients After Cardiac Surgery

Purpose of Review

An overview of recent literature regarding pathophysiology, risk factors, prophylaxis, and treatment of new-onset atrial fibrillation (AF) in post-cardiac surgical patients.

Recent Findings

AF is the most frequent adverse event after cardiac surgery with significant associated morbidity, mortality, and financial cost. Its causes are multifactorial, and models to stratify patients into risk categories are progressing but a consistent, evidence-based system has not yet been developed. Pharmacologic and surgical interventions to prevent and treat this complication have been an area of ongoing research and recent societal guidelines reflect this.

Summary

Inconsistencies remain surrounding how to best identify higher-risk AF patients, which interventions should be used to prevent and treat AF, and which patient groups should receive these interventions. The evidence for these available strategies and their place in contemporary guidelines are summarized.

The complexity of atrial fibrillation newly diagnosed after ischemic stroke and transient ischemic attack: advances and uncertainties

Purpose of review

Atrial fibrillation is being increasingly diagnosed after ischemic stroke and transient ischemic attack (TIA). Patient characteristics, frequency and duration of paroxysms, and the risk of recurrent ischemic stroke associated with atrial fibrillation detected after stroke and TIA (AFDAS) may differ from atrial fibrillation already known before stroke occurrence. We aim to summarize major recent advances in the field, in the context of prior evidence, and to identify areas of uncertainty to be addressed in future research.

Recent findings

Half of all atrial fibrillations in ischemic stroke and TIA patients are AFDAS, and most of them are asymptomatic. Over 50% of AFDAS paroxysms last less than 30 s. The rapid initiation of cardiac monitoring and its duration are crucial for its timely and effective detection. AFDAS comprises a heterogeneous mix of atrial fibrillation, possibly including cardiogenic and neurogenic types, and a mix of both. Over 25 single markers and at least 10 scores have been proposed as predictors of AFDAS. However, there are considerable inconsistencies across studies. The role of AFDAS burden and its associated risk of stroke recurrence have not yet been investigated.

Summary

AFDAS may differ from atrial fibrillation known before stroke in several clinical dimensions, which are important for optimal patient care strategies. Many questions remain unanswered. Neurogenic and cardiogenic AFDAS need to be characterized, as it may be possible to avoid some neurogenic cases by initiating timely preventive treatments. AFDAS burden may differ in ischemic stroke and TIA patients, with distinctive diagnostic and treatment implications. The prognosis of AFDAS and its risk of recurrent stroke are still unknown; therefore, it is uncertain whether AFDAS patients should be treated with oral anticoagulants.

Landiolol for managing atrial fibrillation in post-cardiac surgery

Landiolol is an intravenous ultra-short acting beta-blocker which has been used in Japan for many years to prevent and/or to treat post-operative atrial fibrillation following cardiac surgery. The drug is now available in Europe. This article is a systematic review of literature regarding the use of landiolol in that specific surgical setting.

Pathophysiology and Risk of Atrial Fibrillation Detected after Ischemic Stroke (PARADISE): A Translational, Integrated, and Transdisciplinary Approach

BACKGROUND

It has been hypothesized that ischemic stroke can cause atrial fibrillation. By elucidating the mechanisms of neurogenically mediated paroxysmal atrial fibrillation, novel therapeutic strategies could be developed to prevent atrial fibrillation occurrence and perpetuation after stroke. This could result in fewer recurrent strokes and deaths, a reduction or delay in dementia onset, and in the lessening of the functional, structural, and metabolic consequences of atrial fibrillation on the heart.

METHODS

The Pathophysiology and Risk of Atrial Fibrillation Detected after Ischemic Stroke (PARADISE) study is an investigator-driven, translational, integrated, and transdisciplinary initiative. It comprises 3 complementary research streams that focus on atrial fibrillation detected after stroke: experimental, clinical, and epidemiological. The experimental stream will assess pre- and poststroke electrocardiographic, autonomic, anatomic (brain and heart pathology), and inflammatory trajectories in an animal model of selective insular cortex ischemic stroke. The clinical stream will prospectively investigate autonomic, inflammatory, and neurocognitive changes among patients diagnosed with atrial fibrillation detected after stroke by employing comprehensive and validated instruments. The epidemiological stream will focus on the demographics, clinical characteristics, and outcomes of atrial fibrillation detected after stroke at the population level by means of the Ontario Stroke Registry, a prospective clinical database that comprises over 23,000 patients with ischemic stroke.

CONCLUSIONS

PARADISE is a translational research initiative comprising experimental, clinical, and epidemiological research aimed at characterizing clinical features, the pathophysiology, and outcomes of neurogenic atrial fibrillation detected after stroke.

Prevention of atrial fibrillation after cardiac surgery using low-dose landiolol: A systematic review and meta-analysis

STUDY OBJECTIVE

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is associated with mortality after cardiac surgery. Several studies have reported that landiolol might help to prevent postoperative AF. The objective of this study was to investigate whether low-dose landiolol is useful in terms of balance of benefit and risk.

DESIGN

We conducted a meta-analysis after systematically searching the PubMed, the Cochrane library and the ICHUSHI to identify randomized, controlled trials investigating the preventive effect of landiolol on incidence of AF after cardiac surgery.

PATIENTS

Six randomized trial with 571 patients were included.

MEASUREMENTS

The primary outcome was incidence of AF after surgery, while secondary outcomes were mortality and complications.

MAIN RESULTS

Incidence of AF within 1week after surgery was significantly lower in the landiolol group than in the control group (odds ratio, 0.27; 95% confidence interval, 0.18-0.42; p<0.001). Three of the 6 studies reported data regarding in-hospital mortality and complications, showing no significant differences between groups (0.7 vs 3.0%; OR, 0.45; 95% CI, 0.07-2.74; p=0.39; and 4.5 vs 9.7%; OR, 0.45; 95% CI, 0.16-1.23; p=0.12, respectively).

CONCLUSIONS

Our systematic review revealed that low-dose landiolol might help to prevent AF after cardiac surgery and further large trials are needed to evaluate safety because mortality and morbidity rate were very low in included studies.