Relationship between left atrial spontaneous echo contrast density and left atrial appendage flow velocity in chronic atrial fibrillation

Abstract

surgical or interventional procedures for RMVD were also excluded from the study. Patients were randomized into 2 groups 3 weeks before EC with adding amiodarone (group I, n = 66) or amiodarone plus ramipril (group II, n = 67) to their ordinary medication (amiodarone therapy, 600 mg/d for 7 days as initial loading dose and 200 mg/d for following days; ramipril therapy, 5 mg/d as initial dose and increased to 10 mg/d until EC if tolerated). The duration of follow-up was 1 year, and recurrence of AF was defined as the study end point. Results: The treatment groups had similar demographic and baseline characteristics (Table 1). Kaplan-Meier analysis demonstrated that the probability of remaining in sinus rhythm at 1 year was not different between the 2 groups (Figure). Conclusions: We could not find any favorable effect of ramipril, which was added to amiodarone after successful EC in patients with RMVD. The using of ACEI may not be effective on reducing the recurrence of AF in RMVD.