Efficacy and safety of vernakalant in recent-onset atrial fibrillation after the European medicines agency approval: systematic review and meta-analysis.

Vernakalant is an emergent antiarrhythmic drug that, in preclinical studies, has demonstrated high efficacy in restoring sinus rhythm and safety in patients with rapid recent-onset atrial fibrillation. The aim of this work was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of vernakalant for cardioversion of recent-onset atrial fibrillation. PubMed, EMBASE, Clinical Trials Registry, and European Medicines Agency public reports were searched for randomized clinical trials, until May 2011, of vernakalant compared with controls (placebo/other antiarrhythmic drug) in enrolled patients with high ventricular rate atrial fibrillation.

Glomerular filtration rate and serum phosphate: an inverse relationship diluted by age.

Background: Available data indicate that serum phosphate increases only when glomerular filtration rate (GFR) falls into the low range (<60 mL/min x 1.73 m(2)). GFR and serum phosphate decrease with ageing.

Twenty-year cardiovascular and all-cause mortality trends and changes in cardiovascular risk factors in Gubbio, Italy: the role of blood pressure changes.

Aims: In an observational population study that lasted 20 years, the relationships between mortality trends and changes in cardiovascular risk factor levels were examined.

Methods And Results: In the town of Gubbio, in central Italy, population surveys for measurement of cardiovascular risk factors were performed 20 years apart. In a subset of the initial cohort (1927 men and 2333 women), mortality data were collected for 20 years.