No other antiarrhythmic showed a significant effect on mortality compared with controls .
Class IA , IC , and III drugs are effective in maintaining sinus rhythm but increase adverse effects , and class IA drugs may increase mortality
BACKGROUND A variety of antiarrhythmic drugs have been used to prevent recurrence of atrial fibrillation after conversion to sinus rhythm .
We performed a systematic review to determine the effect of long-term treatment with those drugs on death , embolisms , adverse effects , and atrial fibrillation recurrence .
Comparison of the safety and efficacy of flecainide versus propafenone in hospital out-patients with symptomatic paroxysmal atrial fibrillation/flutter. The Flecainide AF French Study Group.
To assess the cardiac and extracardiac safety and efficacy of flecainide versus propafenone in patients suffering from episodes of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation ( AF ) or atrial flutter , 97 patients were enrolled in a r and omized , open-label , long-term , parallel , comparative multicenter study . The diagnosis of paroxysmal AF or atrial flutter had to be fully documented prior to inclusion in the study . Of the 97 patients enrolled in the study , 48 patients ( 25 men , 23 women , mean age 62.4 + /- 12.3 years ) received flecainide ; 49 patients ( 26 men , 23 women , mean age 63.6 + /- 12.2 years ) received  propafenone . The initial dose of flecainide was 50 mg twice daily , and this could be increased in steps of 50 mg twice daily every 4 days to a maximum of 300 mg/day . The initial dose of propafenone was 300 mg twice daily and this could be increased in steps of 300 mg every 4 days to a maximum of 1200 mg/day . At each visit , medical events , vital sign measurements ( blood pressure , pulse rate ) , concomitant medications , adverse experiences , and study drug dosage changes were evaluated . Routine clinical laboratory tests were evaluated at the month 6 visit , and a 24-hr Holter recording was obtained at the month 1 visit . Almost half ( 45 ) of the patients were discontinued from the study before completing 1 year of therapy . The probability of successful treatment versus time -- i.e . , the proportion of patients who remained on therapy over the course of 1 year therapy -- was 0.619 for the flecainide group and 0.469 for the propafenone group ( p = 0.079 ; difference not significant ) . The difference is largely attributed to the higher proportion of patients in the propafenone group ( 9 ) than in the flecainide group ( 2 ) who experienced side effects important enough to stop the treatment . ( The incidence of side effects was not statistically different between treatment groups , although it was higher in the propafenone group . ) The proportion of patients who discontinued treatment due to inadequate response was similar in the 2 groups : 11 patients ( 22.9 % ) in the flecainide group and 12 patients ( 24.4 % ) in the propafenone group withdrew from the study , primarily because of an inadequate response , i.e. , they experienced an increase in duration , frequency , and severity of attacks of AF or atrial flutter . Neurologic signs , central and peripheral , were mostly encountered in the flecainide group ( 8.5 % ) , and , gastrointestinal effects were more often reported in the propafenone group ( 16.7 % ) . In paroxysmal AF and paroxysmal atrial flutter , flecainide and propafenone are equally effective . However , in this study the probability of a patient 's staying on flecainide after 1 year had a tendency to be higher than the probability of staying on propafenone , due to a greater proportion of secondary effects with propafenone
No other antiarrhythmic showed a significant effect on mortality compared with controls .
Class IA , IC , and III drugs are effective in maintaining sinus rhythm but increase adverse effects , and class IA drugs may increase mortality
BACKGROUND A variety of antiarrhythmic drugs have been used to prevent recurrence of atrial fibrillation after conversion to sinus rhythm .
We performed a systematic review to determine the effect of long-term treatment with those drugs on death , embolisms , adverse effects , and atrial fibrillation recurrence .