The effect of oral magnesium, alone or as an adjuvant to sotalol, after cardioversion in patients with persistent atrial fibrillation

Abstract

In patients with persistent atrial fibrillation, oral treatment with magnesium alone or as an adjuvant to sotalol, does not influence the recurrence rate of atrial fibrillation after elective cardioversion.

Self-limited bursts of atrial fibrillation following successful cardioversion

“…This is consistent with earlier studies [10][11][12]. No significant correlation was found between occurrence of self-limited bursts of atrial fibrillation at 1 week after cardioversion and recurrence of persistent atrial fibrillation within 6 weeks.…”

Magnesium: an antiarrhythmic drug, but only against very specific arrhythmias

“…Because torsade de pointes is a polymorphic arrhythmia at the ventricular level, and because of the above-mentioned observations, it is reasonable to ask whether magnesium may have a preventive effect on polymorphic atrial arrhythmias such as atrial fibrillation. That is the question addressed by Frick and co-workers in this issue [5] . The authors compared, in a well designed and executed study, the effects of sotalol alone or in combination with oral magnesium, to placebo in the prevention of recurrences of atrial fibrillation after cardioversion.…”

Contemporary Approach to Electrical and Pharmacological Cardioversion of Atrial Fibrillation

“…However, this study was not a randomized controlled trial. In a study by Frick et al, 73 sotalol pretreatment resulted in an overall cardioversion success rate of 89% compared with 79% in the placebo group.…”