Patients with drug-refractory paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (AF) treated with a novel cryoablation technology were significantly more likely to be free of arrhythmia at one year compared with patients treated with antiarrhythmic drug therapy, according to the results of the STOP-AF trial.

The RACE-2 trial demonstrated that whether or not rate control is strict in patients with permanent AF, little difference is noted in clinical outcomes.

And the DOSE trial showed that, whether loop diuretics are given in a continuous infusion or intermittently or at conventional or high doses, it appears to make little difference in their effectiveness at relieving symptoms in patients hospitalized with acute heart failure.

Taken together, these trials challenge received notions of what cardiologists assume to be appropriate care. Join Dr Melissa Walton-Shirley and her guests Drs Anne Curtis and Ileana Piña as they discuss these surprising results.