The Effect of Colchicine on the Occurrence of Atrial Fibrillation After Cardiac Surgery (CAFE)

The Effect of Colchicine on the Occurrence of Atrial Fibrillation After Cardiac Surgery (CAFE)

Development of a new comprehensive method for perioperative prevention of atrial fibrillation paroxysms in cardiac surgery patients at the hospital stage.

It is planned to recruit 70 patients who will undergo pericardial fenestration during the operation using the original technique during coronary artery bypass grafting (Patent No. 2647626 C1 Russian Federation), and will be prescribed colchicine (the drug "Colchicum-dispert") in the perioperative period in order to prevent the development of paroxysms of atrial fibrillation in the postoperative period, and 70 cardiac surgery patients operated on using the standard technique (without performing the pericardial fenestration procedure intraoperatively), receiving non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in the postoperative period.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Coronary Artery Disease; Atrial Fibrillation; Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting; Colchicine
• Intervention / Treatment: Drug: NSAID; Drug: Colchicine 0.5 MG

Detailed Description

Study type: observational, analytical, cohort, prospective. Purpose: development of a new comprehensive method for perioperative prevention of atrial fibrillation paroxysms in cardiac surgery patients at the hospital stage.

Objectives:

1. To assess the risk factors that influence the development of atrial fibrillation in the early postoperative period;
2. To conduct a comparative analysis of various therapy methods to reduce the risk of developing atrial fibrillation paroxysms in the early postoperative period in cardiac surgery patients.

To solve the set tasks, it is planned to conduct a cohort prospective observational study of patients with coronary artery disease who underwent coronary artery bypass grafting with cardiopulmonary bypass.

Duration of the study - 1,5 years. The observation period for patients is the hospital postoperative period after CABG.

The study is planned to include 140 patients diagnosed with coronary heart disease. The diagnosis will be established on the basis of medical records and coronary angiography. Indications for CABG surgery will be determined by a consulting cardiac surgeon in accordance with the current Clinical Guidelines of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation "Stable ischemic heart disease" (2020).

Patients should be over 18 years old. It is planned to recruit 70 patients who will undergo pericardial fenestration during coronary artery bypass grafting using the original technique (Patent No. 2647626 C1 Russian Federation), and will be prescribed colchicine (the drug "Colchicum-dispert") in the perioperative period in order to prevent the development of paroxysms of atrial fibrillation in the postoperative period, and 70 cardiac surgery patients operated on using the standard technique (without performing the pericardial fenestration procedure intraoperatively), receiving non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in the postoperative period. Diclofenac will be used as an NSAID in the postoperative period at a daily dose of 100 mg (orally). Colchicine (trade name of the drug "Colchicum-dispert") will be prescribed in a dose of 500 micrograms 4 hours before surgery and 500 micrograms 2 times a day for 10 days after surgery. Since the drug is not registered for the prevention of atrial fibrillation in the postoperative period, its prescription will be decided by a council of doctors, including at least 3 people (head of the department, attending physician, and research physician).

Safety evaluation Since no medical studies or interventions will be carried out in addition to what the patient should receive during standard examination and treatment, participation in this study does not entail any risks and threats to the patient.

The safety endpoints of standard treatment for this disease will be analyzed. Statistical analysis Statistical analysis of data will be carried out in the STATISTICA 10 StatSoft program. Inc. 1984-2011 (USA). Quantitative values will be displayed as median and quartiles Me [25;75]. Comparison of quantitative characteristics between groups will be performed using the Mann-Whitney U-test. Fisher's exact test will be used to compare qualitative characteristics. Differences will be considered statistically significant at p < 0.05.

Ethical and legal issues of the study:

The study was approved by the Biomedical Ethics Committee at Cardiology Research Institute of Tomsk National Research Medical Center.

All patients must sign an informed consent form allowing the use of information about their examination and treatment for scientific purposes with subsequent publication of materials in the open press. The study will be conducted in accordance with the current version of the Declaration of Helsinki, the provisions of the National Standard of the Russian Federation GOST R52379-2005 on Good Clinical Practice dated April 1, 2006, the Order of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation dated April 1, 2016 No. 200n "On approval of the rules of good clinical practice" and the provisions of Good Clinical Practice (GCP).

The procedure for informing study subjects and obtaining written consent from them will be carried out in accordance with GCP standards.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 140
• Phase: Phase 4

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Mariia L Diakova, PhD; Phone Number: +79039155049; Email: prima.maria@mail.ru
• Study Contact Backup: Name: Yuri Y Vechersky, PhD; Phone Number: +79039512225; Email: vjj@cardio-tomsk.ru

Study Locations

• Russia
  • Tomsk, Russia, 634012
    • Recruiting
    • Cardiology Research Institute, Tomsk National Research Medical Center, Russian Academy of Sciences, Tomsk, Russia
    • Contact: Yuri Y Vechersky, PhD; Phone Number: +79039512225; Email: vjj@cardio-tomsk.ru
    • Contact: Maria V Diakova, PhD; Phone Number: +79039155049; Email: prima.maria@mail.ru
    • Sub-Investigator: Maria V Diakova, PhD

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Elective coronary artery bypass grafting on pump;
2. signed informed consent to participate in the study.

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (≤35%);
2. Valvular heart disease requiring surgical correction;
3. Liver failure with an increase in liver transaminases ≥1.5 times;
4. Renal failure (GFR<35 mL/min/1.73 m2 calculated with CKD-EPI);
5. Permanent, persistent or paroxysmal atrial fibrillation;
6. Previously implanted pacemaker;
7. Hypersensitivity to colchicine;
8. Neutropenia;
9. History of alcoholism;
10. Refusal to sign informed consent

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Prevention
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Triple

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Control group; Standard technique without performing the pericardial fenestration procedure intraoperatively. Standard postoperative treatment	Drug: NSAID; standard CABG without performing pericardial fenestration intraoperatively; Other Names: non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs
Experimental: Experimental group; Pericardial fenestration during coronary artery bypass grafting using the original technique. Colchicine (Colchicum-dispert) administration 4 hours before surgery and for 10 days after surgery	Drug: Colchicine 0.5 MG; Colchicine will be prescribed in a dose of 500 micrograms 4 hours before surgery and 500 micrograms 2 times a day for 10 days after surgery with pericardial fenestration; Other Names: Colchicum-dispert

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Incidence of atrial fibrillation paroxysms (percent)	Differences between groups in the incidence of atrial fibrillation paroxysm development (percent)	From the date of randomization until the date of discharge from hospital (from 10 days to 4 weeks)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Incidence of pneumonia (percent)	Differences between groups in the incidence of pneumonia development (percent)	From the date of randomization until the date of discharge from hospital (from 10 days to 4 weeks)
Incidence of mediastinitis (percent)	Differences between groups in the incidence of mediastinitis development (percent)	From the date of randomization until the date of discharge from hospital (from 10 days to 4 weeks)
Level of C-reactive protein (CRP) (mg/L)	The difference in the levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) (mg/L) between the study groups after surgery	10 days
Level of aspartate aminotransferase (AST) (U/L)	The difference in the levels of The difference in the levels of aspartate aminotransferase (AST) (U/L) between the study groups after surgery	10 days
Level of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) (U/L)	The difference in the levels of The difference in the levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) (U/L) between the study groups after surgery	10 days
Level of blood creatinine (µmol/L)	The difference in the levels of blood creatinine (µmol/L) between the study groups after surgery	10 days
Pericardial fluid volume (mL)	The difference in the volume of pericardial fluid (mL) between the study groups after surgery	10 days
Pleural fluid volume (mL)	The difference in the volume of pleural fluid (mL) between the study groups after surgery	10 days
Incidence of gastrointestinal disorders (percent)	Differences between groups in the incidence of nausea and/or diarrhea after surgery	10 days

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Tomsk Cardiology Research Institute
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Yuri Y Vechersky, PhD, Cardiology Research Institute, Tomsk National Research Medical Center

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Diakova ML, Kuznetsov MS, Vechersky YY, Kim EB, Zyryanov SV, Petlin KA, Kozlov BN. A Combined Approach to the Prevention of Postoperative Atrial Fibrillation in Cardiac Surgery. Biomedicines. 2025 Aug 17;13(8):1999. doi: 10.3390/biomedicines13081999.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): January 20, 2025
• Primary Completion (Actual): July 20, 2025
• Study Completion (Estimated): February 20, 2026

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: January 13, 2025
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 22, 2025
• First Posted (Actual): January 29, 2025

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimated): September 9, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 2, 2025
• Last Verified: April 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Vascular Diseases; Cardiovascular Diseases; Pathologic Processes; Heart Diseases; Arrhythmias, Cardiac; Arteriosclerosis; Arterial Occlusive Diseases; Coronary Disease; Myocardial Ischemia; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms; Atrial Fibrillation; Coronary Artery Disease; Physiological Effects of Drugs; Anti-Inflammatory Agents; Peripheral Nervous System Agents; Antirheumatic Agents; Sensory System Agents; Analgesics, Non-Narcotic; Analgesics; Heterocyclic Compounds; Pharmacologic Actions; Chemical Actions and Uses; Therapeutic Uses; Alkaloids; Colchicine; Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal
• Other Study ID Numbers: Tomsk Cardiology Research Inst; Рег. № 123051500130-9: (Registry Identifier: DIAGNOSis AND TREATMENT OF CIRCULATORY SYSTEM DISEASES)

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No