CHICAGO -- Good news and not so good news about investigational treatments for atrial fibrillation are featured in this exclusive InFocus video report from the American Heart Association meeting.
Elliott Antman, MD, co-chair of the program committee at this year's meeting, said the not so good news came from a trial of the prescription omega-3 fatty acid (Lovaza), which failed to prevent recurrence in patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation.
Although this was a secondary prevention trial, Antman explained to Peggy Peck, executive editor of ľֱ, the results are likely to dampen any enthusiasm for omega-3 in primary prevention.
By contrast, Antman said, an investigational oral factor Xa inhibitor, rivaroxaban (Xarelto), may be poised to take a place in the atrial fibrillation treatment armamentarium based on results from the ROCKET-AF study. In the double-blinded trial, rivaroxaban demonstrated noninferiority to warfarin in an elderly group of very high risk patients.