The Montreal Heart Institute presents findings on congestive heart failure and atrial fi...( The results of a major international...),Health

The results of a major international clinical trial coordinated by the Montreal Heart Institute were reported today in the New England Journal of Medicine. The Atrial Fibrillation and Congestive Heart Failure Trial (AF-CHF) was a prospective, multicentre project involving patients with heart failure and atrial fibrillation. Heart failure is an important cause of death in the population and associated atrial fibrillation (a very common heart rhythm disorder) further increases the risks. The trial was launched in 2001 and enrolled 1,376 patients at 123 hospital sites in North America, South America, Europe and Israel. The project's goal was to improve treatment with the objective of reducing mortality and morbidity linked with atrial fibrillation and heart failure. Made possible by a grant of more than $6.5 million from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), this study was directed by Dr. Denis Roy, a cardiologist at the Montreal Heart Institute (MHI) and Chair of the Department of Medicine at the Universit de Montral, in collaboration with Dr. Mario Talajic, also a cardiologist at the MHI, and several Canadian researchers and international experts who contributed to this large-scale research project.

Between May 2001 and June 2005, the 1,376 patients were randomly assigned to a rhythm-control strategy (where patients received electrical shocks and medication to suppress the abnormal rhythm) or a more simpler strategy of rate-control (where two common drugs, beta-blockers and digitalis, are used to prevent rapid heart rates with no specific efforts to regularize the rhythm). The primary endpoint of the study was cardiovascular mortality. Data management and analysis were performed at the Montreal Heart Institute Coordinating Center (MHICC).

The intention-to-treat analysis revealed no difference in the primary endpoint between the two groups.
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