Comparison of effectiveness and safety of antiarrhythmic drugs class IC and III in patients after electrical cardioversion

Patients with atrial fibrillation are faced with an increased risk of thromboembolic events, myocardial infarction, chronic heart failure and death. For some patients with atrial fibrillation, direct current cardioversion (DCCV) is a strategy that can be used to reacquire sinus rhythm. Our aim was to analyse the most commonly used medications after an electrical cardioversion, the reasons for not using them, the effects of pharmacotherapy on recurrence rates, and compare results with data from studies in 2014. The prospective study includes patients with electrocardiographically confirmed atrial fibrillation who underwent direct current cardioversion, hospitalised at Pauls Stradiņš Clinical University Hospital (Riga, Latvia). The average age was 64.6 years. 50% of the patients were female. During the six-month study period, 14.3% patients were using amiodarone, 8.3% patients were on etacizine, 7.1% received propafenone, and 57.1% used beta blockers in monotherapy or in combination. Warfarin was used in 28.0% patients, direct oral anticoagulants (DOAC's) in 29.9%, 21,4% of patients received aspirin and 16.7% did not use any antithrombotic therapy. Comparing the recurrence rate in patients using different antiarrhythmic drugs, amiodarone showed a statistically significant superiority compared to etacizine and propafenone (p = 0.02). The obtained data showed that over four years, the use of anticoagulants increased by 11.6%.