TY - JOUR
T1 - Practice Patterns Among United States Cardiologists for Managing Adults With Atrial Fibrillation (from the AFFECTS Registry)
AU - Reiffel, James A.
AU - Kowey, Peter R.
AU - Myerburg, Robert
AU - Naccarelli, Gerald V.
AU - Packer, Douglas L.
AU - Pratt, Craig M.
AU - Reiter, Michael J.
AU - Waldo, Albert L.
N1 - Funding Information:
All listed investigators met the criteria for authorship set forth by the International Committee for Medical Journal Editors. The AFFECTS Registry was overseen by a scientific advisory committee composed of Peter R. Kowey, MD, Robert J. Myerburg, MD, Gerald V. Naccarelli, MD, Douglas L. Packer, MD, Craig M. Pratt, MD, Eric N. Prystowsky, MD, James A. Reiffel, MD, Michael Reiter, MD, PhD, and Albert L. Waldo, MD. We wish to acknowledge the following for their editorial contributions during the development of this report: Carol Koro, PhD, Kimberly Yost, BS, and Rose Snipes, MD, who are all employees of GlaxoSmithKline. In addition, we would like to thank Ralph Doyle, BA, a former employee of Reliant Pharmaceuticals and currently a consultant for GlaxoSmithKline, for his assistance in the data analyses and critical review of the report. Editorial support in the form of the development of a draft outline and first draft of the report, editorial suggestions to draft versions of this report, assembling tables and figures, collating author comments, copyediting, fact checking, and referencing was provided by Meryl Gersh, PhD, at AlphaBioCom, LLC (Radnor, Pennsylvania) and was funded by GlaxoSmithKline.
PY - 2010/4/15
Y1 - 2010/4/15
N2 - The Atrial Fibrillation: Focus on Effective Clinical Treatment Strategies (AFFECTS) Registry was designed to examine atrial fibrillation (AF) treatment by United States cardiologists in the context of the American College of Cardiology, American Heart Association, and European Society of Cardiology guidelines after recent landmark clinical trials. Most patients in AFFECTS had AF without clinically significant structural heart disease or only uncomplicated hypertension. Among the all-enrolled population (n = 1,461), initial treatment strategies assigned were rhythm control in 64% and rate control in 36%. Among patients with either paroxysmal (n = 1,165) or persistent (n = 273) AF, 67% and 55%, respectively, were assigned rhythm control. The trend to assign rhythm control as the initial treatment goal decreased with age. In the rhythm-control group, most patients (74%) also received a rate-control agent during the registry, while 25% of those assigned to rate control received antiarrhythmic drugs. Most first prescriptions of antiarrhythmic drugs were for first-line therapy compliant with 2001 (76%) and 2006 (86%) guidelines. Most second prescriptions were for first-line therapies as well. Rates of serious adverse events were low. In conclusion, data from this study provide insight into community treatment patterns in patients with AF, most without clinically significant structural heart disease or with only uncomplicated hypertension.
AB - The Atrial Fibrillation: Focus on Effective Clinical Treatment Strategies (AFFECTS) Registry was designed to examine atrial fibrillation (AF) treatment by United States cardiologists in the context of the American College of Cardiology, American Heart Association, and European Society of Cardiology guidelines after recent landmark clinical trials. Most patients in AFFECTS had AF without clinically significant structural heart disease or only uncomplicated hypertension. Among the all-enrolled population (n = 1,461), initial treatment strategies assigned were rhythm control in 64% and rate control in 36%. Among patients with either paroxysmal (n = 1,165) or persistent (n = 273) AF, 67% and 55%, respectively, were assigned rhythm control. The trend to assign rhythm control as the initial treatment goal decreased with age. In the rhythm-control group, most patients (74%) also received a rate-control agent during the registry, while 25% of those assigned to rate control received antiarrhythmic drugs. Most first prescriptions of antiarrhythmic drugs were for first-line therapy compliant with 2001 (76%) and 2006 (86%) guidelines. Most second prescriptions were for first-line therapies as well. Rates of serious adverse events were low. In conclusion, data from this study provide insight into community treatment patterns in patients with AF, most without clinically significant structural heart disease or with only uncomplicated hypertension.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.amjcard.2009.11.046
DO - 10.1016/j.amjcard.2009.11.046
M3 - Article
C2 - 20381664
AN - SCOPUS:77950460086
SN - 0002-9149
VL - 105
SP - 1122
EP - 1129
JO - American Journal of Cardiology
JF - American Journal of Cardiology
IS - 8
ER -