SUPERIOR trial: 18% vs 28.3% atrial arrhythmia recurrence after ablation on sacubitril/valsartan

Results of the SUPERIOR trial were presented on 6 November 2026 at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions in Chicago, according to ad-hoc-news.de. The study compared a combination drug regimen with standard treatment in older patients with hypertension who had undergone catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation ad-hoc-news.dead-hoc-news.dead-hoc-news.deOpen source ↗.

Trial design and patients

The randomized trial enrolled 320 adults from China aged 55 or older. The mean age was 68 years and 41.2% of participants were women. About 66.6% had paroxysmal atrial fibrillation. All patients underwent catheter ablation between February 2023 and January 2025.

One group received sacubitril/valsartan at 100 mg once daily. The control group received valsartan monotherapy at 80 mg once daily. The primary endpoint was documented atrial tachyarrhythmias over a 12-month follow-up.

Recurrence and blood pressure

After 12 months, documented recurrence of atrial arrhythmias was 18% in the sacubitril/valsartan group and 28.3% in the valsartan group ad-hoc-news.dead-hoc-news.dead-hoc-news.deOpen source ↗.

Blood pressure effects were comparable. Systolic pressure fell by about 10 mm Hg in both groups, and 24-hour ambulatory monitoring showed no significant difference between them. According to the data, the better rhythm stability under the combination therapy was therefore not accompanied by a notably larger overall blood pressure reduction.

Limitations

The results are preliminary. They were presented as a conference abstract and have not yet gone through regular peer review.

The study materials also note methodological limits. The trial was open-label, with intermittent rhythm monitoring. The cohort was limited to older hypertensive patients in China, so applicability to other patient groups requires further clinical verification ad-hoc-news.dead-hoc-news.dead-hoc-news.deOpen source ↗.