Table 1

Characteristics of included trials

Studies	Size (n)	Mean age	Female (%)	Metoprolol maximum dose/day	Comparison dose/day	Time of treatment	Definition of AF	ECG monitoring	Surgery type
Acikel et al22	110	60	28	100 mg	Carvedilol 25 mg	3 days preoperatively, discontinued on the morning of surgery	AF >30 s	Continuous ECG	CABG
Auer et al20	253	65	40	100 mg	Placebo; sotalol 240 mg	24–48 hours preoperatively	AF >5 min	Continuous ECG	CABG, valve
Haghjoo et al23	120	61	47	100 mg	Carvedilol 50 mg	10 days preoperatively	AF >5 min	Continuous ECG	CABG
Halonen et al18	316	63	18.6	Intravenous 1–3 mg/hour	Amiodarone 15 mg/kg bodyweight	Within 24 hours after cardiac surgery continued for 48 hours	First AF episode in the 48 hours postoperation	Continuous ECG	CABG, valve
Jalalian et al6	150	59	31	25 mg two times a day	Carvedilol 6.25 mg two times a day	First postoperative day until 5 days postoperation	Absence P wave, irregular QRS comple x >30 s	Continuous ECG	CABG
Janssen et al24	151	58	not reported	Intravenous 1 mg/kg, oral 50 mg three times a day	Placebo; sotalol intravenous 0.3 mg/kg, oral 80 mg three times a day	In the first hour after surgery and continued for 48 hours	SVTA >1 min with HR >100 beats/min or causing haemodynamic deterioration	48 hours continuous monitoring ECG after complained of palpitation	CABG
Lúcio et al21	100	61	27	100–300 mg/day	No treatment	12 hours until 7 days postoperation	No definition	Continuous ECG for 2 to 3 days	CABG
Onk and Erkut19	251	57.5	41	50 mg/day	Amiodarone 200 mg	1 week before coronary bypass surgery and during postoperation	No definition	Continuous ECG monitoring	CABG
Ozaydin et al25	311	63	25.7	200 mg	Carvedilol 25 mg	7 days preoperatively	AF >5 min	Continuous ECG	CABG

AF, atrial fibrillation; CABG, continuous artery bypass graft; HR, heart rate; SVTA, supraventricular tachyarrhythmia.