title: Omega-3 fatty acid supplementation reduces one-year risk of atrial fibrillation in patients hospitalized with myocardial infarction.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Current strategies for avoiding atrial fibrillation (AF) are of limited value. We aim to assess the relationship between omega-3 fatty acids (n-3 PUFA) and AF occurrence in post-myocardial infarction (MI) patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  A population study, linking hospital discharge records, prescription databases, and vital statistics, was conducted and included all consecutive patients with MI (ICD-9: 410) in six Italian local health authorities over a 3-year period. A propensity score (PS)-based, 5-to-1, greedy 1:1 matching algorithm was used to check consistency of results. Sensitivity analysis was performed to assess the robustness of findings.
  
  
  RESULTS
  N-3 PUFA reduced the relative risk of the hospitalization for AF [hazard ratio (HR) 0.19, 95% CI 0.07-0.51] and was associated with a further and complementary reduction in all-cause mortality (HR 0.15, 95% CI 0.05-0.46). PS-based matched analysis and sensitivity analysis confirmed the main results.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  n-3 PUFA reduced both all-cause mortality and incidence of 1-year AF in patients hospitalized with MI.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Pharmacology and Epidemiology, Santa Maria Imbaro, Chieti, Italy. macchia@negrisud.it
authors.forename: Alejandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Macchia
authors.forename: Simona
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Monte
authors.forename: Fabio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pellegrini
authors.forename: Marilena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Romero
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ferrante
authors.forename: Hernán
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Doval
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: D'Ettorre
authors.forename: Aldo Pietro
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Maggioni
authors.forename: Gianni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tognoni
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001281:Atrial Fibrillation / Q000517:prevention & control*; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D015525:Fatty Acids, Omega-3 / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000150:complications*; D012306:Risk
chemical_list: D015525:Fatty Acids, Omega-3