CARDIOVASCULAR MEDICINE Effects of magnesium on atrial fibrillation after cardiac surgery: a meta-analysis

s from the annual scientific meetings of the American College of Cardiology, American Heart Association, British Cardiac Society (Heart), European Society of Cardiology, and North American Society for Pacing and Electrophysiology between 2000 and 2003 were searched. Inclusion criteria for studies Studies were included only if they met all of the following criteria: N Randomised allocation of patients; N placebo used as the control treatment N well described protocol of magnesium administration as the intervention N adequate data on treatment efficacy (supraventricular arrhythmia incidence) N primary prevention of postoperative AF in CABG or valve surgery N treatment started immediately preoperatively, perioperatively, or postoperatively; N no confounding randomised drug treatment. Double blind and non-blinded studies were included. Two investigators (EC, SM) evaluated the design of each trial for inclusion. The primary outcome measure was the incidence of postoperative AF or atrial flutter except where total incidence of supraventricular arrhythmia was documented. Two other outcome measures, LOS and incidence of stroke, were also analysed when they could be obtained from the publication. Abbreviations: AF, atrial fibrillation; CABG, coronary artery bypass graft; CENTRAL, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials; CI, confidence interval; LOS, length of stay; OR, odds ratio 618 www.heartjnl.com group.bmj.com on June 21, 2017 Published by http://heart.bmj.com/ Downloaded from