Cardiome Pharma has published positive data from an observational, retrospective study performed at the Skane University Hospital in Malmö, Sweden. The study included 251 recent-onset atrial fibrillation (AF) patients who received 355 BRINAVESS treatments between Jan. 15, 2011 and April 15, 2013. During the observation period, 70% of the AF patients treated with BRINAVESS converted with a median time of 11 minutes.

Conversion efficacy was 76% in patients with AF durationThe European Journal of Cardiovascular Medicine.

"It is exciting to see that patients treated in the clinically critical first 48 hours after AF onset appear to continue to derive better-than-expected benefit from BRINAVESS and that they also prefer this therapy over DC cardioversion," said William Hunter, M.D., CEO of Cardiome Pharma. "The high conversion efficacy coupled with short hospital stay we believe makes BRINAVESS a practical option for physicians and patients who value rapid relief from AF."

Dr. Steen Juul-Möller, the study's PI and Cardiome's medical director, said, "Skane University Hospital developed a ‘fast-track’ AF program in the emergency room where patients with short duration AF were promptly treated with BRINAVESS, which likely contributed to the higher efficacy seen in this setting compared to the ACT and AVRO clinical trials. The finding that 75% of successfully treated BRINAVESS patients remained in normal sinus rhythm after a one year follow-up period was an interesting and important finding that requires further investigation.”

Patients with recent-onset AF and whom cardioversion was considered were evaluated for BRINAVESS treatment. Over the period of the study, 251 patients received 355 treatments.

In all patients, 70% of BRINAVESS treatments were successful and 70% of the patients responded at least once with conversion to sinus rhythm. The conversion rate was higher at 76% among patients with AF duration10 hours (P

Those patients who did not respond to BRINAVESS treatment were subsequently treated with DC cardioversion. All patients who had experienced both BRINAVESS and DC cardioversion were given a questionnaire to assess cardioversion preference and were followed up for a maximum period of 27 months (BRINAVESS [n = 156]; DC cardioversion [n=91]). Among those who converted with BRINAVESS, 72% would prefer this treatment, in patients who did not convert with BRINAVESS, 61% said they would prefer DC cardioversion if they experienced a relapse (P