But the study emphasized the need for clinicians to be careful about going too far in trying to control patients’ heart rates, Dr. Curtis said, because too much control could lead to bradycardia and unnecessary pacemaker use.
As for additional research, "We need to know how to prevent [atrial fibrillation] in the first place, and we need to understand thoroughly the long-term outcomes of ablation therapy," Dr. Curtis said.
Dr. Wann had no financial conflicts to disclose. Several of the writing group members, including Dr. Curtis, disclosed serving as a speaker or consultant, or receiving research funding from multiple pharmaceutical companies including Medtronic, Boston Scientific, AstraZeneca, Sanofi-Aventis, and GlaxoSmithKline.