Summary

Colchicine (COL) administered perioperatively in patients undergoing cardiac surgery reduced the incidence of the primary end point of postpericardiotomy syndrome (PPS) compared with placebo. Secondary end points of postoperative atrial fibrillation (POAF) and postoperative pleural and pericardial effusions were not significantly reduced in an investigator-initiated, double-blind, randomized clinical trial conducted at 11 centers in Italy. This article presents the results of the Colchicine for Prevention of the Post-pericardiotomy Syndrome and Post-operative Atrial Fibrillation trial [COPPS-2; Imazio M et al. JAMA. 2014].