Efficacy of antiarrhythmic drugs on early arrhythmia recurrences after pulmonary vein isolation for atrial fibrillation

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Atrial tachyarrhythmias commonly recur shortly after radiofrequency catheter ablation (pulmonary vein isolation) for atrial fibrillation (AF). We prospectively examined the efficacy of three-month low-dose flecainide therapy (150 or 100 mg/day) on the recurrences of any atrial tachyarrhythmias during the first three months after AF ablation (primary endpoint). After the ablation, the patients were randomly assigned to the flecainide group (n=62) or to the control group (n=64) receiving no antiarrhythmic drugs. The rates of primary endpoint was 37% and 41% (P=0.76) in the flecainide and control groups, respectively. Long-term arrhythmia recurrence rates were also not different (21% vs. 25%, P=0.54). Short-term low-dose flecainide therapy after AF ablation did not reduce the early and the late arrhythmia recurrences.