Prevention of atrial fibrillation with omega-3 fatty acids: a meta-analysis of randomised clinical trials
Heart, 04/27/2011
Evidence Based Medicine
Liu T et al. – No significant effects of n–3 PUFA supplementation on atrial fibrillation (AF) prevention were observed in this meta–analysis. A large–scale trial with higher doses and longer follow–up might be required to rule out the possibility of any treatment benefit.
Methods- MEDLINE, Web of Science and Cochrane clinical trials database were searched until November 2010
- Of 127 initially identified studies, 10 RCT with 1955 patients were finally analysed
- Two blinded reviewers extracted data independently to a predefined form. Disagreements were resolved through discussion and consensus
- n–3 PUFA had no significant effect on the prevention of AF (OR 0.81, 95% CI 0.57 to 1.15; p=0.24)
- There was significant heterogeneity among the studies (p=0.002, I2=65.0%)
- Subgroup analysis showed no significant beneficial effect of fish oils in any subset of population
