Amiodarone and N-Acetylcysteine or Amiodarone Alone for Preventing Atrial Fibrillation After Thoracic Surgery

May 15, 2026 updated by: Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

A Randomized, Double-Blind, Controlled Trial of Combined Amiodarone and N-Acetylcysteine Versus Amiodarone Plus Placebo for the Prevention of Atrial Fibrillation in High Risk Patients Undergoing Thoracic Surgery

This trial will be comparing the combination of amiodarone and NAC (n=122) to amiodarone alone and NAC matched placebo (n=122) to determine the rates with which sustained (lasting >30 seconds) or clinically significant POAF is reduced in high risk patients within 7 days after major thoracic surgery.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Active, not recruiting

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
184

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Phase 3

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Missouri
      • St Louis, Missouri, United States, 63110
        • University of Washington School of Medicine in St. Louis
    • New Jersey
      • Basking Ridge, New Jersey, United States
        • Memorial Sloan Kettering Basking Ridge (Consent Only)
      • Middletown, New Jersey, United States, 07748
        • Memorial Sloan Kettering Monmouth (Consent only)
      • Montvale, New Jersey, United States, 07645
        • Memorial Sloan Kettering Bergen (Consent Only)
    • New York
      • Commack, New York, United States, 11725
        • Memorial Sloan Kettering Commack (Consent only)
      • Harrison, New York, United States, 10604
        • Memorial Sloan Kettering Westchester (Consent Only)
      • New York, New York, United States, 10065
        • Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
      • Rockville Centre, New York, United States, 11570
        • Memorial Sloan Kettering Rockville Centre (Consent only)
      • Uniondale, New York, United States, 11553
        • Memorial Sloan Kettering Nassau (Consent Only)

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 75 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Patients ≥18 years old scheduled for elective thoracic surgery (segmentectomy, lobectomy or bi-lobectomy, pneumonectomy or esophagectomy) and meeting one of the four following risk criteria:

    • 1. Female & BNP ≥ 25pg/ml (no age limit)
    • 2. Male gender <75 & BNP ≥ 25pg/ml
    • 3. Male- age ≥75 (No BNP limit)
    • 4. History of prior AF
  • Patients in sinus rhythm.
  • Patients with stable respiratory status (no respiratory distress).
  • Patients capable of providing written, informed consent.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Patients scheduled for extrapleural pneumonectomy.
  • Hemodynamically unstable patients (not in cardiogenic shock or having an acute MI).
  • Patients with 2nd or 3rd degree atrioventricular (AV) block.
  • Patients with hypersensitivity to amiodarone or NAC.
  • Patients already taking class Ic or III antiarrhythmic drugs.
  • Hepatic insufficiency (≤2 times the upper normal limit of transaminase levels).
  • Renal insufficiency (creatinine ≥2.0 mg/dl).
  • Known pregnancy.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Double

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Placebo Comparator: Amiodarone + Placebo
Amiodarone loading: 150 mg IV in PACU over one hour, then 1.0 gm/24h x 2 + NAC loading matching placebo; 50 mg/kg IV in PACU over one hour, then 50 mg/kg/24h x 2 NAC matched placebo continuously for 48 hours.
Drug: Placebo
Drug: Amiodarone
Experimental: Amiodarone + N-Acetylcysteine
Amiodarone loading: 150 mg IV in PACU over one hour, then 1.0 gm/24h x 2 + NAC loading: 50 mg/kg IV in PACU over one hour, then 50 mg/kg/24h x 2 and then continuously for 48 hours.
Drug: Amiodarone
Drug: N-Acetylcysteine

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
rate of sustained (lasting >30 seconds) or clinically significant post-operative atrial fibrillation (POAF)
Time Frame: within 7 days since operation
Atrial arrhythmias will be considered and defined as atrial fibrillation/flutter (AF) lasting great than 30 seconds and/or sustained supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) that are detected by continuous telemetry or that are clinically significant, requiring intervention and documented by 12-lead ECG by the clinical staff.
within 7 days since operation

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Collaborators

Collaborators

An organization other than the sponsor that provides support for a clinical study. This support may include activities related to funding, design, implementation, data analysis, or reporting.
Washington University School of Medicine
The Cleveland Clinic
Vanderbilt University School of Medicine

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: David Amar, MD, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

Helpful Links

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
April 1, 2016

Primary Completion (Estimated)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
April 1, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
April 1, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
April 21, 2016

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
April 22, 2016

First Posted (Estimated)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
April 25, 2016

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
May 19, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
May 15, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
May 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • 16-307

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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