• Stefano Forlani, Marco Moscarelli, Antonio Scafuri, Antonio Pellegrino, and Luigi Chiariello.
• Cattedra di Cardiochirurgia, University of Rome Tor Vergata, European Hospital, Via Portuense 700, 00149 Rome, Italy. hhstel@tiscali.it
• Card Electrophysiol Rev. 2003 Jun 1; 7 (2): 168-71.

ObjectiveAtrial Fibrillation (AF) is a common complication of coronary artery bypass surgery reported to occur in 20-40% of patients. Sotalol alone and magnesium alone have been shown to decrease the incidence of AF. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of these two agents, alone or in combination, to reduce postoperative AF.MethodsTwo hundreds and seven consecutive coronary artery bypass patients were randomized to receive sotalol alone (80 mg two times daily for five days starting from the morning of the first postoperative day), magnesium alone (1.5 g daily for six days starting in the operating room just before cardiopulmonary bypass), both pharmacological agents at the same dosages or no antiarrhythmic agents (Control group). Patients with an ejection fraction <40% were excluded.ResultsThe incidence of postoperative AF was 11.8% (6/51) in the sotalol group, 14.8% (8/54) in the magnesium group, 1.9% (1/52) in sotalol+magnesium group and 38% (19/50) in the control group. The differences were significant between the control group and the other three groups (sotalol, magnesium and sotalol + magnesium groups: p = 0.002, p = 0.007 and p < 0.0001 respectively), and between the sotalol + magnesium group and single drug groups (sotalol and magnesium groups: p = 0.04 and p = 0.01, respectively.ConclusionThe incidence of AF after coronary surgery was significantly reduced by the administration of sotalol alone and magnesium alone. The incidence of postoperative AF was further reduced by combining the two pharmacological agents.

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