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Commonly used painkillers are linked to an increased risk of atrial fibrillation (AF) or flutter, concludes a study¹ published recently on bmj.com.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is reviewing the cardiovascular (CV) risk associated with the anti-arrhythmic drug, dronedarone¹ (Multaq®, Sanofi-Aventis), following the company’s recent discontinuation of the phase IIIb PALLAS (Permanent Atrial fibriLLAtion outcome Study using Dronedarone on top of standard therapy) trial after it found increased CV events in those randomised to the drug.

New research¹ by the Atrial Fibrillation Association (AFA), AntiCoagulation Europe (ACE), sponsored by Roche, reveals more than nine out of 10 patients – 94% – on warfarin want to be more involved or consulted in their care decisions; plus more than half of those not using a monitor did not know self-monitoring exists. Currently less than 2%² of patients in the UK benefit from self-monitoring, despite the fact that it has been shown to cut the risk of death by nearly two-fifths (39%) and more than halve the risk of strokes³ (55%).

Clinical outcomes in atrial fibrillation (AF) patients are influenced not by the choice of rhythm control versus rate control, but mainly by hospitalisations due to arrhythmia/proarrhythmia and other cardiovascular causes, according to a study¹ of the RECORDAF (Registry on Cardiac Rhythm Disorders Assessing the Control of Atrial Fibrillation).

Outcomes for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) could be improved with a comprehensive therapeutic hypothermia (TH) protocol, integrated into regional ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) networks, according to research published recently in Circulation.¹

The implementation of new cardiac drug safety requirements by Japan’s Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency (PMDA) could help to establish whether and in what way ethnicity impacts drug-induced proarrhythmic liability, according to a study¹ published in International Pharmaceutical Industry.

Food intake may be an important factor in accidental drowning, according to a study¹ published in the latest issue of Medicine, Science and the Law. Warnings about not eating before swimming are common, with a prohibition on swimming after eating ranging from 20 minutes to as long as three hours. But up until now, there has been little evidence to support the relationship between food intake and accidental drowning.

A cardiac researcher at Guy’s and St Thomas’ hospital has won the European Heart Rhythm Association’s electrophysiology case college prize, after describing to its biennial meeting in June how he diagnosed and cured his patient’s two different arrhythmias, one of which masked the other.

Pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) with a multielectrode phased radiofrequency pulmonary vein ablation catheter (PVAC) presents a high risk of subclinical intracranial embolic lesions, according to a study¹ published recently in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

The superiority of dabigatran to warfarin, as reported by the Randomized Evaluation of Long-Term Anticoagulation Therapy (RE-LY) trial, may be offset by its cost, according to an editorial¹ published recently in Circulation.