# Alcoholonthouding bij drinkers met AF: NEJM gerandomiseerde trial

*geplaatst 2020-01-02 · Atriumfibrilleren · The New England journal of medicine · doi 10.1056/NEJMoa1817591 · https://hartvaat.nl/2020/01/02/alcoholonthouding-bij-drinkers-met-af-nejm-gerandomiseerde-trial/*

NEJM gerandomiseerde trial die aantoonde dat alcoholonthouding het recidief van AF significant vermindert bij regelmatige drinkers. Leefstijlinterventie als AF-therapie.

## English: Alcohol Abstinence in Drinkers with Atrial Fibrillation.

This randomized trial showed that abstinence from alcohol in regular drinkers with atrial fibrillation significantly reduced AF recurrence and AF burden. The study provided the first high-quality evidence that alcohol cessation is a modifiable lifestyle intervention for AF management.

## Abstract (original, from the publication)

BACKGROUND: Excessive alcohol consumption is associated with incident atrial fibrillation and adverse atrial remodeling; however, the effect of abstinence from alcohol on secondary prevention of atrial fibrillation is unclear. METHODS: We conducted a multicenter, prospective, open-label, randomized, controlled trial at six hospitals in Australia. Adults who consumed 10 or more standard drinks (with 1 standard drink containing approximately 12 g of pure alcohol) per week and who had paroxysmal or persistent atrial fibrillation in sinus rhythm at baseline were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to either abstain from alcohol or continue their usual alcohol consumption. The two primary end points were freedom from recurrence of atrial fibrillation (after a 2-week "blanking period") and total atrial fibrillation burden (proportion of time in atrial fibrillation) during 6 months of follow-up. RESULTS: Of 140 patients who underwent randomization (85% men; mean [±SD] age, 62±9 years), 70 were assigned to the abstinence group and 70 to the control group. Patients in the abstinence group reduced their alcohol intake from 16.8±7.7 to 2.1±3.7 standard drinks per week (a reduction of 87.5%), and patients in the control group reduced their alcohol intake from 16.4±6.9 to 13.2±6.5 drinks per week (a reduction of 19.5%). After a 2-week blanking period, atrial fibrillation recurred in 37 of 70 patients (53%) in the abstinence group and in 51 of 70 patients (73%) in the control group. The abstinence group had a longer period before recurrence of atrial fibrillation than the control group (hazard ratio, 0.55; 95% confidence interval, 0.36 to 0.84; P = 0.005). The atrial fibrillation burden over 6 months of follow-up was significantly lower in the abstinence group than in the control group (median percentage of time in atrial fibrillation, 0.5% [interquartile range, 0.0 to 3.0] vs. 1.2% [interquartile range, 0.0 to 10.3]; P = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Abstinence from alcohol reduced arrhythmia recurrences in regular drinkers with atrial fibrillation. (Funded by the Government of Victoria Operational Infrastructure Support Program and others; Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry number, ACTRN12616000256471.).

Auteurs: Aleksandr Voskoboinik, Jonathan M Kalman, Anurika De Silva, Thomas Nicholls, Benedict Costello, Shane Nanayakkara, Sandeep Prabhu, Dion Stub, Sonia Azzopardi, Donna Vizi, Geoffrey Wong, Chrishan Nalliah, Hariharan Sugumar, Michael Wong, Emily Kotschet, David Kaye, Andrew J Taylor, Peter M Kistler

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Bron: The New England journal of medicine, https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa1817591. Bijgewerkt 2026-07-03T13:27:32Z. Citeer vrij, met bronvermelding en een link naar hartvaat.nl (de url van het record). Samenvattingen zijn redactioneel werk van HartVaat; de oorspronkelijke publicaties blijven van hun uitgevers (doi). Geen medisch advies.
