GuidelineDeutsches Arzteblatt international2025
Clinical Practice Guideline: Preventive Measures and Treatment Options for Atrial Fibrillation.
Guideline in Deutsches Arzteblatt international, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- [The EHRA/HRS/APHRS/LAHRS/AEPC consensus statement on the management of atrial tachycardias : Implications of the SMART-AT 10-point plan for clinical practice and healthcare structures].Herzschrittmachertherapie & Elektrophysiologie · 2026Article
- [Late complications after atrial fibrillation ablation : Diagnosis and management].Herzschrittmachertherapie & Elektrophysiologie · 2026Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundWith approximately 1.6 million people affected in Germany, atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common arrhythmia. The management of AF, from prevention to treatment, including anticoagulation, is therefore of major clinical importance in terms of these patients' quality of life and their mortality.
methodsThis first German clinical practice guideline on AF was developed in accordance with the Regelwerk Leitlinien (rules for guidelines) of the Association of the Scientific Medical Societies in Germany (Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Wissenschaftlichen Medizi - nischen Fachgesellschaften e. V., AWMF). The available evidence on all relevant issues was retrieved by a systematic literature search and evaluated with the participation of many medical specialty societies.
resultsAF is classified on clinical grounds as paroxysmal, persis - tent, longstanding persistent, or permanent. It is associated with a 1.5- to 2-fold increase in mortality and a 4- to 5-fold increase in the risk of stroke. Nonetheless, general screening for AF is not currently recommended, as the data on this question are conflicting. Lifestyle interventions and the reduction of risk factors lessen the frequency of AF. Female sex is only a minor risk factor; the CHA2DS2-VA-Score is recommended to assess the risk of thromboembolic events. If it is 2 or higher, oral anticoagulation (OAC) is indicated, of a type that should be decided on an individual basis. In patients with cardiovascular risk factors, early rhythm control has been shown to reduce prognostically relevant cardio - vascular endpoints (3.9 versus 5.0 per 100 patientyears). Multiple studies have shown that catheter ablation is superior to drug-based antiarrhythmic therapy in patients with paroxysmal symptomatic AF as well as in those with heart failure and AF.
conclusionIt is hoped that the recommendations contained in this guideline will lead to intensified measures for the prevention of AF, resulting in a lower prevalence of AF and its adverse sequelae. The available evidence supports the evaluation of the indications for OAC, early rhythm control, and the use of catheter ablation, especially in patients with paroxysmal AF or heart failure.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.