Table 2.
Studies on colchicine for the treatment of pericardial diseases
| Study | Study design | Dosing | Clinical setting | Patients | Main results |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| COPE trial23 (2005) | Randomized trial (open-label) | Colchicine, 1 mg on first day, followed by 0.5 mg daily (if <70 kg) or 1 mg twice daily followed by 0.5 mg twice daily (if ≥70 kg), for 3 months | Acute pericarditis | 120 | Reduction of recurrent pericarditis (11% vs. 32%, P < 0.01, NNT 5) and symptoms persistence at 72 h (12% vs. 37%, P < 0.01) |
| CORE trial24 (2005) | Randomized trial (open-label) | Colchicine, 1 mg on first day, followed by 0.5 mg daily (if <70 kg) or 1 mg twice daily followed by 0.5 mg twice daily (if ≥70 kg), for 6 months | First recurrence of pericarditis | 84 | Reduction of recurrent pericarditis (24% vs. 51%, P = 0.02, NNT 4) and symptoms persistence at 72 h (10% vs. 31%, P = 0.03) |
| CORP trial25 (2011) | Double-blind RCT | Colchicine, 1 mg on first day followed by 0.5 mg daily (if <70 kg) or 1 mg twice daily followed by 0.5 mg twice daily (if ≥70 kg), for 6 months | First recurrence of pericarditis | 120 | Reduction of recurrent pericarditis (24% vs. 55%, P < 0.01) and symptoms persistence at 72 h (23% vs. 53%, P < 0.01) |
| ICAP trial26 (2013) | Double-blind RCT | Colchicine, 0.5 mg daily (if <70 kg) or 0.5 mg twice daily (if ≥70 kg), for 3 months | Acute pericarditis | 240 | Reduction of recurrent or incessant pericarditis (17% vs. 37%, P < 0.01, NNT 4) and symptoms persistence at 72 h (19% vs. 40%, P < 0.01) |
| CORP-2 trial27 (2014) | Double-blind RCT | Colchicine, 0.5 mg daily (if <70 kg) or 0.5 mg twice daily (if ≥70 kg), for 6 months | Recurrent pericarditis (second or subsequent recurrence) | 240 | Reduction of recurrent pericarditis (22% vs. 42%, P < 0.01, NNT 5) |
| Sambola et al.28 (2019) | Randomized trial (open label) | Colchicine, 0.5 mg twice daily (if <70 kg) or 1 mg twice daily (if ≥70 kg), for 3 months | Acute pericarditis | 110 | Failure to reduce recurrent pericarditis (13% vs. 8%, P = NS) |
| Finkelstein et al.30 (2002) | Randomized trial (open-label) | Colchicine, 1.5 mg daily from the third postoperative day, for 1 month | Post-pericardiotomy syndrome following cardiac surgery | 163 | Failure to reduce post-pericardiotomy syndrome (11% vs. 22%, P = 0.135) |
| COPPS trial31 (2010) | Double-blind RCT | Colchicine, 1 mg on the third postoperative day followed by 0.5 mg daily (if <70 kg) or 1 mg twice daily followed by 0.5 mg twice daily (if ≥70 kg), for 1 month | Post-pericardiotomy syndrome following cardiac surgery | 360 | Reduction of post-pericardiotomy syndrome (9% vs. 21%, P < 0.01) |
| COPPS-232 (2014) | Double-blind RCT | Colchicine from 48 to 72 h before surgery, 0.5 mg daily (if <70 kg) or 0.5 mg twice daily (if ≥70 kg), for 1 month | Post-pericardiotomy syndrome following cardiac surgery | 360 | Reduction of post-pericardiotomy syndrome (19% vs. 29%, P < 0.01) although it did not reduce occurrence of postoperative AF (34% vs. 42%, P = NS) or pericardial/pleural effusion (57% vs. 59%, P = NS) |
| Meurin et al.33 (2015) | Double-blind RCT | Colchicine, 1 mg daily for 2 weeks | Pericardial effusion following cardiac surgery | 197 | Failure to reduce effusion volume on a 0–4 scale (−1.1 ± 1.3 vs. −1.3 ± 1.3 grades) or late cardiac tamponade (7% vs. 6%, P = NS) |
AF, atrial fibrillation; NNT, number needed to treat; RCT, randomized controlled trial.