NCT00215774

Brief Summary

A randomized trial to test the hypothesis that short-term pharmacological reversal of electrical remodeling after cardioversion is equally efficient to prevent recurrent atrial fibrillation as standard long-term antiarrhythmic therapy.

Trial Health

100
On Track

Trial Health Score

Automated assessment based on enrollment pace, timeline, and geographic reach

Enrollment
760

participants targeted

Target at P75+ for not_applicable atrial-fibrillation

Timeline
Completed

Started Mar 2005

Longer than P75 for not_applicable atrial-fibrillation

Status
completed

Health score is calculated from publicly available data and should be used for screening purposes only.

Trial Relationships

Click on a node to explore related trials.

Study Timeline

Key milestones and dates

Study Start

First participant enrolled

March 1, 2005

Completed
7 months until next milestone

First Submitted

Initial submission to the registry

September 14, 2005

Completed
8 days until next milestone

First Posted

Study publicly available on registry

September 22, 2005

Completed
4 years until next milestone

Primary Completion

Last participant's last visit for primary outcome

October 1, 2009

Completed
1.4 years until next milestone

Study Completion

Last participant's last visit for all outcomes

March 1, 2011

Completed
Last Updated

September 11, 2012

Status Verified

September 1, 2012

Enrollment Period

4.6 years

First QC Date

September 14, 2005

Last Update Submit

September 10, 2012

Conditions

Keywords

Atrial fibrillation

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

  • time to persistent atrial fibrillation as determined by daily telemetric ECG recordings and verified by Holter ECG recording

    primary endpoint

Secondary Outcomes (6)

  • time to first symptomatic episode of AF

    end of trial

  • AF burden (number and duration of AF episodes)

    end of trial

  • number of hospitalizations due to AF

    end of trial

  • time to termination of trial medication

    end of trial

  • number of serious adverse events including pro-arrhythmic events

    end of trial

  • +1 more secondary outcomes

Study Arms (3)

No antiarrhythmic treatment

NO INTERVENTION

Control group

B-Flecainide treatment

EXPERIMENTAL

4 weeks treatment with flecainide

Drug: Flecainide

C-Flecainide treatment

EXPERIMENTAL

6 months flecainide treatment

Drug: Flecainide

Interventions

Flecainide 2 - 3 x 100 mg/d The main difference between the two active therapy groups is the duration of treatment.

Also known as: Flecainide in all its approved oral preparations
B-Flecainide treatmentC-Flecainide treatment

Eligibility Criteria

Age18 Years+
Sexall
Healthy VolunteersYes
Age GroupsAdult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

  • Documented persistent atrial fibrillation
  • Age of 18 years
  • Written informed consent of the patient

You may not qualify if:

  • Current therapy with antiarrhythmic agents of class I and class III other than study medication flecainide. Such antiarrhythmic treatment must be stopped five half lives prior to enrollment. Five half lives correspond to 48 hours for almost all antiarrhythmic agents. For details regarding a specific agent, this information can be obtained through the internet at www.rote-liste.de or from the Fachinformation of the specific compound.
  • Symptomatic bradycardia or symptomatic sick sinus syndrome unless treated with a permanent pacemaker
  • Symptomatic higher degree AV nodal block (grade II or III) unless treated with a permanent pacemaker
  • Brugada syndrome
  • Typical angina pectoris symptoms at rest or during exercise
  • Known untreated coronary artery disease with high-degree coronary stenosis (\> 80% reduction in luminal diameter)
  • Myocardial infarction within the last 3 months
  • Left ventricular ejection fraction of more than 40%
  • Men: Creatinine clearance (ml/min) = (140 - age(years)) \* body weight (kg) / (72 \* serum creatinine level (mg/dl))
  • Women: Value for men \* 0,85
  • Manifest hepatic insufficiency
  • Hyperthyroidism or hypothyroidism manifested clinically and in laboratory tests (TSH, T3, T4)
  • Females who are pregnant or breast feeding
  • Females of childbearing potential who are not using a scientifically accepted method of contraception
  • Participation in a clinical trial within the last 30 days. Simultaneous participation in a registry (e.g. project AB1 of the AFNET) is permitted.
  • +4 more criteria

Contact the study team to confirm eligibility.

Sponsors & Collaborators

Related Publications (3)

  • Kirchhof P, Fetsch T, Hanrath P, Meinertz T, Steinbeck G, Lehmacher W, Breithardt G. Targeted pharmacological reversal of electrical remodeling after cardioversion--rationale and design of the Flecainide Short-Long (Flec-SL) trial. Am Heart J. 2005 Nov;150(5):899. doi: 10.1016/j.ahj.2005.07.020.

    PMID: 16290956BACKGROUND
  • Kirchhof P, Andresen D, Bosch R, Borggrefe M, Meinertz T, Parade U, Ravens U, Samol A, Steinbeck G, Treszl A, Wegscheider K, Breithardt G. Short-term versus long-term antiarrhythmic drug treatment after cardioversion of atrial fibrillation (Flec-SL): a prospective, randomised, open-label, blinded endpoint assessment trial. Lancet. 2012 Jul 21;380(9838):238-46. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(12)60570-4. Epub 2012 Jun 18.

  • Apostolakis S, Haeusler KG, Oeff M, Treszl A, Andresen D, Borggrefe M, Lip GY, Meinertz T, Parade U, Samol A, Steinbeck G, Wegscheider K, Breithardt G, Kirchhof P. Low stroke risk after elective cardioversion of atrial fibrillation: an analysis of the Flec-SL trial. Int J Cardiol. 2013 Oct 9;168(4):3977-81. doi: 10.1016/j.ijcard.2013.06.090. Epub 2013 Jul 18.

Related Links

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Atrial Fibrillation

Interventions

Flecainide

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Arrhythmias, CardiacHeart DiseasesCardiovascular DiseasesPathologic ProcessesPathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

PiperidinesHeterocyclic Compounds, 1-RingHeterocyclic Compounds

Study Officials

  • P Kirchhof, Prof

    AFNET, Kompetenznetz Vorhofflimmern

    PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
  • G Breithardt, Prof

    AFNET, Kompetenznetz Vorhofflimmern

    PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

Study Type
interventional
Phase
not applicable
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Masking
NONE
Purpose
TREATMENT
Intervention Model
PARALLEL
Sponsor Type
OTHER
Responsible Party
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
PI Title
Prof MD

Study Record Dates

First Submitted

September 14, 2005

First Posted

September 22, 2005

Study Start

March 1, 2005

Primary Completion

October 1, 2009

Study Completion

March 1, 2011

Last Updated

September 11, 2012

Record last verified: 2012-09