Incidence of atrial fibrillation after esophageal cancer surgery with L-carnitine use: a preliminary single-group interventional study

We aimed to investigate the POAF rate and blood FABP4 levels after perioperative L-carnitine administration in patients with esophageal cancer.

L-carnitine (3 g in three divided doses) was administered to 15 patients 2 days before and 3 days after surgery. POAF during the study period and blood FABP4 levels (ELISA) before and after L-carnitine administration were evaluated. Accurate 95% confidence intervals (CI) for POAF incidence and changes in blood FABP4 levels were calculated. The preoperative predicted POAF rate was calculated using an application for esophageal cancer. The correlation between FABP4 levels and the predicted POAF rate was analyzed using Pearson’s coefficient (r).

Thirteen patients completed this study. The predicted POAF rate was 24% (17%, 34%) (median; interquartile range). The actual incidence of POAF was 7.7% (95% CI: 0.2–36%). Blood FABP4 levels changed from 10.3 to 7.0 ng/mL; the average change was − 3.3 (95% CI: − 6.6 to − 0.1). A positive correlation was found between preoperative FABP4 levels and the predicted POAF rates (r = 0.564).

The POAF rate after esophageal surgery was 7.7% for L-carnitine. L-carnitine may reduce blood FABP4 levels. This preliminary study will contribute to the planning of sample sizes in future randomized trials.