TY - JOUR T1 - Alcohol and atrial fibrillation: to or not to drink? JF - BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine JO - BMJ EBM DO - 10.1136/bmjebm-2020-111340 SP - bmjebm-2020-111340 AU - Jack W O'Sullivan Y1 - 2020/06/03 UR - http://ebm.bmj.com/content/early/2020/06/03/bmjebm-2020-111340.abstract N2 - EBM VerdictEBM Verdict on: Voskoboinik A, Kalman MJ, Silva DA, et al. Alcohol Abstinence in Drinkers with Atrial Fibrillation. N Engl J Med 2020; 382:20–28. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa1817591In patients with (AF who are regular drinkers of 10 or more standard rinks a week) an alcohol abstinence programme leads to 20% (95% CI 4.3% to 36%) less exacerbations of AF: number needed to treat 5 (95% CI 3 to 28).Alcohol has long been considered a risk factor for atrial fibrillation (AF). However, it has been uncertain whether reducing alcohol consumption reduces the risk of AF exacerbations as there has been no evidence from randomised controlled trials until now.In 1978, the term ‘Holiday heart’ was coined—referring to exacerbations of atrial fibrillation (AF) associated with excessive drinking (typically around the holiday season).1 Since then, many observational studies have shown the seemingly dose-dependent relationship between alcohol intake and incident AF.2 Despite this accumulating observational evidence, the effect of … ER -