Prevention of Atrial Fibrillation After Cardiac Surgery by Posterior Pericardiotomy

NCT ID: NCT06728826

Last Updated: 2024-12-11

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

NOT_YET_RECRUITING

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

648 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2025-01-31

Study Completion Date

2026-06-30

Brief Summary

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The goal of PREACT-AF is to learn if posterior pericardiotomy works to prevent the incidence of postoperative atrial fibrillation (POAF) in patients undergoing cardiac surgery.

The main questions it aims to answer are:

Does posterior pericardiotomy prevent the incidence of POAF for participants after cardiac surgery? What medical problems do participants have when undergoing posterior pericardiotomy?

Detailed Description

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Approximately 30% of cardiac surgical patients develop post-operative atrial fibrillation (POAF). Its incidence varies depending on the type of cardiac operation. POAF is associated with short- and long-term adverse events, including mortality, stroke, and heart failure. POAF has also been significantly associated with unplanned hospitalization for heart failure.

During cardiac surgery, pericardial fluid tends to collect posterior to the left atrium. Even small amounts of fluid may trigger atrial arrhythmias. A posterior left pericardiotomy is a surgical procedure that involves cauterizing an opening between the left inferior pulmonary vein and the diaphragm. This procedure may allow for more prolonged drainage of the pericardial fluid into the left pleural space. Recent research evidence found that posterior pericardiotomy was associated with a significantly lower incidence of POAF.

The existing data on posterior pericardiotomy is promising for a reduction in POAF. However, no high-quality study has demonstrated that this reduction improves clinical outcomes in the years after cardiac surgery. The PRINCE trial's long-term follow-up of patients randomized to left posterior pericardiotomy could conclusively demonstrate whether the relationship of POAF to post-discharge clinical outcomes is causal and modifiable.

The PRINCE trial will evaluate the effectiveness and safety of posterior left pericardiotomy in preventing POAF and improving post-discharge clinical outcomes in a broad spectrum of cardiac surgery patients.

The intervention under investigation is left posterior pericardiotomy which is compared to no posterior pericardiotomy during cardiac surgery. The early co-primary outcome is in-hospital POAF, and the late co-primary outcome is the hierarchical composite of time to all-cause death, time to ischemic stroke, time to systemic arterial embolism, time to unplanned hospital visit/readmission for cardiac reasons, and time to atrial fibrillation after index hospital discharge.

The study will enrol 1400 patients from 30 centres, globally. Follow-up visits will be performed in person or by telephone 1 and 6 months post-randomization (+7 days), and then every 6 months (+30 days) until an average follow-up of 5 years for the study participants (estimated to be 4 years after completion of enrolment).

Conditions

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Atrial Fibrillation (AF) Cardiac Events

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Primary Study Purpose

TREATMENT

Blinding Strategy

TRIPLE

Participants Investigators Outcome Assessors

Study Groups

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Posterior Pericardiotomy Group

The surgeon will perform posterior pericardiotomy during the patient's cardiac surgery.

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Posterior Pericardiotomy

Intervention Type PROCEDURE

The surgeon will perform a posterior pericardiotomy while the patient is on cardiopulmonary bypass. In detail, the surgeon will use cautery to make a 4- to 5-cm opening in pericardium between the left inferior pulmonary vein and the diaphragm. Then a soft channel drain will be placed through the posterior pericardium, the pericardiotomy and into the left pleural space.

No Posterior Pericardiotomy Group

The surgeon will not perform posterior pericardiotomy during the patient's cardiac surgery.

Group Type NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

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Posterior Pericardiotomy

The surgeon will perform a posterior pericardiotomy while the patient is on cardiopulmonary bypass. In detail, the surgeon will use cautery to make a 4- to 5-cm opening in pericardium between the left inferior pulmonary vein and the diaphragm. Then a soft channel drain will be placed through the posterior pericardium, the pericardiotomy and into the left pleural space.

Intervention Type PROCEDURE

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* Patients greater than or equal to 18 years of age
* Requiring surgical intervention on the proximal aorta, cardiac valves, and/or coronary arteries
* Able to provide informed consent

* Prior cardiac surgery requiring opening of the pericardium
* Previous surgical instrumentation of the left pleural cavity
* Patient undergoing minimally invasive cardiac surgery

Exclusion Criteria

* History of atrial fibrillation or flutter
Minimum Eligible Age

18 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sponsors

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Changhai Hospital

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Responsibility Role SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

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Lin Han, M.D. Ph.D.

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Naval Medical University Changhai Hospital

Hao Zhang, M.D. Ph.D.

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Naval Medical University Changhai Hospital

Locations

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Changhai Hospital

Shanghai, , China

Site Status

Countries

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China

Central Contacts

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Hao Zhang, M.D. Ph.D.

Role: CONTACT

Phone: 86-21-31161765

Email: [email protected]

Facility Contacts

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Fan Yang, M.D. Ph.D.

Role: primary

Other Identifiers

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CHEC2024-397

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id