2009 Bisphosphonate and atrial fibrillation

Description: We performed a Bayesian meta-analysis to address the possible association between the occurrence of AF and bisphosphonate use and estimated the posterior probability of development of AF with bisphosphonate use.
Conclusions The current meta-analysis revealed no evidence of a higher risk of AF associated with bisphosphonate use. Nevertheless, based on Bayesian meta-analysis with the effect size of the observational studies as the prior, the posterior probabilities of development of AF was found to be 0.484 if the risk of AF was estimated to be more than 20%. The results of the current meta-analysis thus offer clinicians the practical probability of development of AF in patients who take bisphosphonates for the treatment of bone loss and corticosteroid induced osteoporosis.
Bisphosphonate and atrial fibrillation: Bayesian meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials and observational studies Anselm Mak , Mike WL Cheung , Roger Chun-Man Ho , Alicia Ai-Cia Cheak and Chak Sing Lau BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders 2009, 10:113 full text available