Assessment of Flecainide to Lower the Patent Foramen Ovale Closure Risk of Atrial Fibrillation or Tachycardia

• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Trial end date: 2026-07-19
• Target enrollment: 0
• Participant gender: All

Summary

About 30% of ischemic strokes are cryptogenic. Patent Foramen Ovale (PFO) is present in about 25% of the general population. In cryptogenic strokes, PFO has been shown to be overrepresented and recent intervention studies have confirmed that PFO has a causal link with stroke. In patients with recent cryptogenic stroke, these randomized studies have shown at least 50%-reduction of recurrent neurological events after PFO percutaneous closure compared with medical therapy alone. At the The risk of AF reported in these studies in certainly largely underestimated as only symptomatic and recorded episodes of AF have been declared. Patients often report palpitations without a dia gnosis of AF made on the ECG or a Holter. Long term ECG monitoring provides more accurate data on AF incidence.

Administration of flecainide has been shown to be effective in preventing AF and may be useful in preventing these AF episodes after PFO closure.

To our knowledge, there is no study assessing the efficacy of any antiarrhythmic drug in the prevention of AF after PFO closure. AFLOAT will be the first randomized study to possibly validate flecainide to prevent AF in these patients.

• Phase: Phase 3
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers?: No

Details

• Lead Sponsor: Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris
• Collaborator: Fonds de dotation ACTION
• Treatments: Flecainide

Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

• ≥ 18 years of age

• They are candidates for a procedure of PFO closure, whatever the indication (secondary prevention of stroke, platypnoea, decompression illness…). The indication must have been confirmed by a multidisciplinary team as recommended by the Haute Autorité de Santé.

• They are affiliated to Social Security

• They have provided a signed written consent form ICM implantation and randomization will occur only in patients with successful PFO closure without any major complications

Exclusion Criteria:

• History of atrial fibrillation (paroxysmal, persistent or permanent)

• Electrocardiographic of ventricular pre-excitation or bundle-branch block (QRS >120ms)

• Ischemic heart disease

• Dilated or hypertrophic cardiomyopathy

• A history of heart failure, severe valvular heart disease, left ventricular dysfunction (ejection fraction <50 percent)

• A long QT interval or Brugada syndrome

• The bradycardia-tachycardia syndrome (resting heart rate, ≤50 beats per minute, or repetitive sinoatrial blocks during waking hours)

• Documentation of previous episodes of second or third-degree atrioventricular block

• High heart rate at baseline > 100 bmp

• Renal insufficiency (Glomerular filtration rate estimated by the Cockroft and Gault formula <30ml/min/m2),

• Previous hypokalemia (potassium level <3 mmol per liter)

• Suspected or known pregnancy (woman of childbearing potential must undergo a pregnancy test)

• A known hypersensibility to flecainide or its excipients

• Contemporaneous enrollment in an interventional clinical trial

• Intended use of a prohibited medication