Table 2

Statistical significant predictors for postoperative AF, in meta-analyses of RCTs

Author, year	Predictor	Exposed/unexposed as included in MA	k	n/N	Metric	ES (95% CI)	P	PI include null value	I² %	SSE	ESB	LS sign	High RoB	GLE	AMSTAR 2 quality
Ruan 2020	Atrial pacing	Atrial pacing or not	21	511/2002	OR	0.57 (0.43 to 0.76)	0.0002	Yes	35.04	No	Yes	No	≤25%	High	High
Ruan 2020	Bi-atrial pacing	Bi-atrial pacing or not	10	235/1014	OR	0.44 (0.26 to 0.76)	0.002	Yes	57.55	No	Yes	No	≤25%	High	High
Hu 2016	Posterior pericardiotomy	Posterior pericardiotomy or not	10	329/1648	OR	0.36 (0.23 to 0.56)	0.0000	Yes	56.36	No	Yes	Yes	≤25%	High	High
Liu 2019	Dexmedetomidine	Dexmedetomidine use or not	13	335/1684	OR	0.70 (0.49 to 0.98)	0.037	Yes	29.82	No	No	No	>25%	Moderate	High
Guerra 2017	Ranolazine	Ranolazine use or not	3	176/700	OR	0.30 (0.13 to 0.69)	0.004	Yes	66.00	No	No	Yes	>25%	Moderate	High
Patti 2015	Statin pre-treatment	Statin pre-treatment or not	11	303/1106	OR	0.41 (0.32 to 0.53)	0.000	Yes	0.00	No	NP	Yes	≤25%	Moderate	High
Putzu 2016	Perioperative statin therapy	Perioperative statin therapy or not	19	1255/4737	OR	0.53 (0.35 to 0.81)	0.003	Yes	90.90	No	Yes	Yes	>25%	Moderate	High
Guo 2014	PUFAs alone and in combination therapy with vitC+vitE	PUFAs alone and in combination therapy with vitC+vitE or not	11	956/3137	OR	0.61 (0.44 to 0.86)	0.005	Yes	68.84	Yes	Yes	No	>25%	Moderate	Moderate
Guo 2014	EPA/DHA ratio1:2	EPA/DHA ratio1:2 or 1:2	11	956/3137	OR	0.61 (0.44 to 0.86)	0.005	Yes	68.84	Yes	Yes	No	>25%	Moderate	Moderate
Gillespie 2005	Amiodarone	Amiodarone or not	15	762/2941	OR	0.5 (0.42 to 0.60)	0.0000	No	0.00	No	NP	Yes	≤25%	Moderate	Moderate
DiNicolantonio 2014	Carvedilol use	Carvedilol or metoprolol use	4	135/497	OR	0.50 (0.28 to 0.90)	0.020	Yes	45.88	No	No	No	≤25%	Moderate	High
Li 2015	Landiolol	Landiolol use or not	9	217/807	RR	0.40 (0.30 to 0.53)	0.0000	No	20.15	Yes	Yes	Yes	>25%	Moderate	High
Ho 2009	Hydrocortisone	Hydrocortisone use or not	18	455/1509	RR	0.74 (0.63 to 0.86)	0.0002	No	0.00	No	No	Yes	>25%	Moderate	High
Geng 2017	Perioperative antioxidant therapy	Perioperative antioxidant therapy use or not	11	464/1544	RR	0.55 (0.42 to 0.72)	0.0000	Yes	54.44	Yes	Yes	Yes	>25%	Moderate	High
Lennerz 2017	Colchicine	Colchicine use or not	5	354/1744	RR	0.66 (0.52 to 0.85)	0.001	Yes	24.68	No	No	No	>25%	Moderate	Moderate
Liu 2014	Prophylactic NAC use	Prophylactic NAC use or not	10	253/1026	OR	0.56 (0.38 to 0.83)	0.004	Yes	14.06	No	No	No	≤25%	Moderate	Critically low
Langlois 2017	PUFA	PUFA supplementation or not	17	1074/3614	OR	0.67 (0.49 to 0.90)	0.008	Yes	62.14	No	Yes	No	>25%	Moderate	High
Liu 2014	Low dose glucocrorticoids	Low dose glucocrorticoids use or not	5	285/843	RR	0.71 (0.55 to 0.92)	0.008	Yes	31.82	No	No	Yes	>25%	Moderate	High
Liu 2015	Medium dose glucocrorticoids	Medium dose glucocrorticoids use or not	19	1915/5968	RR	0.76 (0.60 to 0.96)	0.020	Yes	49.57	Yes	Yes	No	>25%	Moderate	High
Liu 2015	Glucorticoids	Glucorticoids use or not	27	2255/7019	RR	0.77 (0.66 to 0.90)	0.001	Yes	40.08	Yes	Yes	No	>25%	Moderate	High
Khan 2020	TAVR in patients with aortic stenosis with low risk	TAVR or SAVR	3	563/2633	OR	0.13 (0.09 to 0.18)	0.0000	Yes	48.84	No	No	Yes	>25%	Moderate	High
Khan 2020	TAVR in patients with aortic stenosis with intermediate risk	TAVR or SAVR	2	812/3692	OR	0.23 (0.16 to 0.33)	0.0000	NP	76.17	NP	No	Yes	>25%	Moderate	High
Khan 2020	TAVR in patients with low and intermediate risk	TAVR or SAVR	4	1375/6325	OR	0.17 (0.12 to 0.24)	0.0000	No	82.84	Yes	No	Yes	>25%	Moderate	High
Chatterjee 2013	Oral amiodarone	Oral amiodarone or not	8	472/1906	RR	0.58 (0.47 to 0.72)	0.0000	No	36.28	No	No	Yes	≤25%	Low	Low
Chatterjee 2013	IV amiodarone	IV amiodarone or not	15	598/2044	RR	0.57 (0.43 to 0.75)	0.0001	Yes	68.26	Yes	Yes	Yes	≤25%	Low	Low
Chatterjee 2013	Preoperative amiodarone	Preoperative amiodarone or not	11	585/2231	RR	0.55 (0.46 to 0.64)	0.0000	No	18.49	No	No	Yes	≤25%	Low	Low
Chatterjee 2013	Peri/postoperative amiodarone p	Peri/postoperative amiodarone or not	12	482/1717	RR	0.55 (0.38 to 0.80)	0.001	Yes	57.85	Yes	Yes	Yes	≤25%	Low	Low
Miller 2005	Magnesium	Magnesium administration or not	20	577/2490	OR	0.53 (0.38 to 0.74)	0.0002	Yes	59.67	Yes	Yes	No	>25%	Low	Critically low
Wiesbauer 2007	B-blockers	B-blockers use or not	26	1019/3959	OR	0.38 (0.29 to 0.49)	0.0000	No	45.04	Yes	Yes	Yes	>25%	Low	Critically low
Violi 2014	Antioxidants	Antioxidants use or not	15	481/1738	RR	0.58 (0.45 to 0.76)	0.0001	Yes	54.39	Yes	Yes	No	>25%	Low	Critically low

AF, atrial fibrillation; CE, class of evidence; DHA, docosahexaenoic acid; EPA, eicosapentaenoic acid; ES, effect size; ESB, excess significance bias; GLE, GRADE level of evidence; GRADE, Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation; I², heterogeneity; K, number of studies for each factor; LS, largest study with significant effect; n, number of cases; N, total number of cohort per factor; NA, not assessable; NAC, N-acetylcysteine; NP, not pertinent, because the number of observed studies is less than the expected; NR, not reported; OSAS, obstructive sleep apnea syndrome; PI, prediction interval; PUFAs, polyunsaturated fatty acids; RCT, randomised controlled trial; RoB, risk of bias; RR, risk ratio; SAVR, surgical aorta valve replacement; SSE, small study effects; TAVR, transcatheter aorta valve replacement; vit, vitamin.