Omega-3 fatty acids don’t prevent the recurrence of atrial fibrillation.

P-OM3 trial ( Efficacy and Safety of Prescription Omega-3 Acid Ethyl Esters ) for the Prevention of Recurrent Symptomatic Atrial Fibrillation is a prospective, randomized, double-blind trial of 663 patients ( average age 61, 56% male) enrolled at 96 sites.

In the study, Researchers compared the use of the fish-oil-derived product ( 4 grams/day ) and a placebo in patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation.

Eating fish rich in Omega-3 fatty acids benefits patients with some types of heart problems, including heart failure and heart attack. As part of a heart healthy diet, it is associated with reduced risk of sudden death and death from coronary artery disease in adults. Previous evidence of prescription Omega-3 benefits in atrial fibrillation came from small studies in which researchers reported conflicting findings.

Some 2.66 million Americans currently have one of three forms of atrial fibrillation, paroxysmal, persistent and permanent, that increase the risk of fatal coronary heart disease, heart failure and stroke.

Researchers randomly assigned 542 paroxysmal atrial fibrillation patients and 121 persistent atrial fibrillation patients to receive 4 grams of prescription Omega-3 a day or a corresponding placebo.
Treatment lasted 24 weeks.

The trial’s primary endpoint was the time to the first recurrence of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation symptoms.

Researchers found:

• paroxysmal atrial fibrillation patients who received Omega-3 didn’t differ significantly from the placebo group in the time to first recurrence of symptoms;

• there was no significant difference between treated persistent atrial fibrillation and the placebo group;

• the same result emerged after researchers combined data from both types of treated atrial fibrillation patients;

• Omega-3 proved safe and patients tolerated it well.

In conclusion, the trial’s major implication is that using prescription Omega-3 in the vast majority of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation patients who do not have significant heart disease is fruitless. In the absence of any data that it works, it is probably better not to take prescription Omega-3.

The researchers’ findings applied only to paroxysmal atrial fibrillation. The research excluded atrial fibrillation patients with heart failure.

Source: American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions, 2010

XagenaMedicine2010


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