EAST High-AFNET 11 Trial - UK arm
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Early atrial fibrillation ablation for stroke prevention in patients with high comorbidity burden
IRAS ID
360329
Contact name
André Ng
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Atrial Fibrillation NETwork (AFNET)
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
Duration of Study in the UK
4 years, 10 months, 31 days
Research summary
Atrial fibrillation is the most common cardiac arrhythmia, which can sometimes lead to serious complications (e.g. a stroke). There are around 60 million patients with atrial fibrillation worldwide. Patients with atrial fibrillation have an increased risk of stroke or other illnesses. Most of these complications occur in older patients with concomitant diseases. Good treatment is important to counteract these risks. Early treatment can prevent complications.
Treatment can take the form of medication (antiarrhythmic drugs) or a minor surgical procedure (ablation). Both therapies have been well tested and are regularly used to treat atrial fibrillation.
A study successfully completed in 2020 (EAST-AFNET 4) was able to show that early rhythm-preserving therapy can reduce complications such as deaths, strokes or hospitalisations due to heart problems by 21%. The study also showed that patients with atrial fibrillation and several concomitant diseases in particular benefit from early rhythm maintenance therapy. In the EAST-AFNET 4 study, rhythm-preserving therapy was essentially carried out with drugs.
Ablation is more effective in the long term than the use of medication and is just as safe. So far, ablation has mostly only been offered to younger patients with few concomitant diseases. However, ablation may be useful for patients with atrial fibrillation and several concomitant diseases, as the risk of severe consequences of atrial fibrillation is particularly high in these patients.
The purpose of this study is to investigate whether patients with atrial fibrillation and several concomitant diseases may be better protected from complications by ablation than by medication. The study participants are randomly assigned to one of the two well-proven treatment groups, either treatment by ablation or treatment as per local usual care. This random choice of treatment method allows us to determine with certainty whether one of the two treatment methods is more effective or safer than the other.REC name
South Central - Hampshire B Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
26/SC/0077
Date of REC Opinion
21 Apr 2026
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion