In patients with distributive shock, the risk of atrial fibrillation may be lower when vasopressin is administered along with catecholamine vasopressors, results of a recent systematic review and meta-analysis suggest.
The relative risk of atrial fibrillation was reduced for the combination of vasopressin and catecholamines versus the current standard of care, which is catecholamines alone, according to study results published in JAMA.
Beyond atrial fibrillation, however, findings of the meta-analysis were consistent with regard to other endpoints, including mortality, according to William F. McIntyre, MD, of McMaster University, Hamilton, Ont., and his coinvestigators.
Mortality was lower with the combination approach when all studies were analyzed together. Yet, when the analysis was limited to the studies with the lowest risk of bias, the difference in mortality versus catecholamines alone was not statistically significant, investigators said.
Nevertheless, the meta-analysis does suggest that vasopressin may offer a clinical advantage regarding prevention of atrial fibrillation in patients with distributive shock, a frequently fatal condition most often seen in patients with sepsis.
Vasopressin is an endogenous peptide hormone that decreases stimulation of certain myocardial receptors associated with cardiac arrhythmia, the authors noted.
“This, among other mechanisms, may translate into a reduction in adverse events, including atrial fibrillation, injury to other organs, and death,” they said in their report.