Evaluation of risk stratification schemes for ischaemic stroke and bleeding in 182 678 patients with atrial fibrillation: the Swedish Atrial Fibrillation cohort study

The impact of some risk factors for stroke and bleeding, and the value of stroke and bleeding risk scores, in atrial fibrillation (AF), has been debated, as clinical trial cohorts have not adequately tested these. Our objective was to investigate risk factors for stroke and bleeding in AF, and application of the new CHA(2)DS(2)-VASc and HAS-BLED schemes for stroke and bleeding risk assessments, respectively

Rivaroxaban vs. vitamin K antagonists for cardioversion in atrial fibrillation

AIMS: X-VeRT is the first prospective randomized trial of a novel oral anticoagulant in patients with atrial fibrillation undergoing elective cardioversion.METHODS AND RESULTS: We assigned 1504 patients to rivaroxaban (20 mg once daily, 15 mg if creatinine clearance was between 30 and 49 mL/min) or dose-adjusted vitamin K antagonists (VKAs) in a 2:1 ratio. Investigators selected either an early (target period of 1-5 days after randomization) or delayed (3-8 weeks) cardioversion strategy. The primary efficacy outcome was the composite of stroke, transient ischaemic attack, peripheral embolism, myocardial infarction, and cardiovascular death. The primary safety outcome was major bleeding. The primary efficacy outcome occurred in 5 (two strokes) of 978 patients (0.51%) in the rivaroxaban group and in 5 (two strokes) of 492 patients (1.02%) in the VKA group [risk ratio 0.50; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.15-1.73]. In the rivaroxaban group, four patients experienced primary efficacy events following early cardioversion (0.71%) and one following delayed cardioversion (0.24%). In the VKA group, three patients had primary efficacy events following early cardioversion (1.08%) and two following delayed cardioversion (0.93%). Rivaroxaban was associated with a significantly shorter time to cardioversion compared with VKAs (P &lt; 0.001). Major bleeding occurred in six patients (0.6%) in the rivaroxaban group and four patients (0.8%) in the VKA group (risk ratio 0.76; 95% CI 0.21-2.67).CONCLUSION: Oral rivaroxaban appears to be an effective and safe alternative to VKAs and may allow prompt cardioversion.NAME OF THE TRIAL REGISTRY: Clinicaltrials.gov;TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT01674647.</p

Clinical and Pharmacological Effects of Apixaban Dose Adjustment in the ARISTOTLE Trial

BACKGROUND: In the ARISTOTLE (Apixaban for Reduction in Stroke and Other Thromboembolic Events in Atrial Fibrillation) trial, patients with atrial fibrillation and &gt;= 2 dose-adjustment criteria (age &gt;= 80 years, weight &lt;= 60 kg, or creatinine &gt;= 1.5 mg/dl [133 mu mol/l]) were randomized to receive apixaban 2.5 mg twice daily or warfarin.OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to describe the effects of apixaban dose adjustment on clinical and pharmacological outcomes.METHODS: Patients receiving the correct dose of study drug were included (n = 18,073). The effect of apixaban 2.5 mg twice daily versus warfarin on population pharmacokinetics, D-dimer, prothrombin fragment 1 + 2 (PF1+2), and clinical outcomes was compared with the standard dose (5 mg twice daily).RESULTS: Patients receiving apixaban 2.5 mg twice daily exhibited lower apixaban exposure (median area under the concentration time curve at a steady state 2,720 ng/ml vs. 3,599 ng/ml; p &lt; 0.0001) than those receiving the standard dose. In patients with &gt;= 2 dose-adjustment criteria, reductions in D-dimers (p interaction = 0.20) and PF1+2 (p interaction = 0.55) were consistent with those observed in the standard-dose population. Patients with &gt;= 2 dose-adjustment criteria (n = 751) were at higher risk for stroke/systemic embolism, major bleeding, and all-cause death than the standard-dose population (0 or 1 dose-adjustment criterion, n = 17,322). The effect of apixaban 2.5 mg twice daily versus warfarin in the &gt;= 2 dose-adjustment criteria population was consistent with the standard dose in the reductions in stroke or systemic embolism (p interaction = 0.26), major bleeding (p interaction = 0.25), and death (p interaction = 0.72).CONCLUSIONS: Apixaban drug concentrations were lower in patients receiving 2.5 mg twice daily compared with 5 mg twice daily. However, the effects of apixaban dose adjustment to 2.5 mg versus warfarin were consistent for coagulation biomarkers and clinical outcomes, providing reassuring data on efficacy and safety. (Apixaban for the Prevention of Stroke in Subjects With Atrial Fibrillation [ARISTOTLE]; NCT00412984) </p

The ABC (age, biomarkers, clinical history) stroke risk score: a biomarker-based risk score for predicting stroke in atrial fibrillation.

AimsAtrial fibrillation (AF) is associated with an increased risk of stroke, which is currently estimated by clinical characteristics. The cardiac biomarkers N-terminal fragment B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) and cardiac troponin high-sensitivity (cTn-hs) are independently associated with risk of stroke in AF. Our objective was to develop and validate a new biomarker-based risk score to improve prognostication of stroke in patients with AF.Methods and resultsA new risk score was developed and internally validated in 14 701 patients with AF and biomarkers levels determined at baseline, median follow-up of 1.9 years. Biomarkers and clinical variables significantly contributing to predicting stroke or systemic embolism were assessed by Cox-regression and each variable obtained a weight proportional to the model coefficients. External validation was performed in 1400 patients with AF, median follow-up of 3.4 years. The most important predictors were prior stroke/transient ischaemic attack, NT-proBNP, cTn-hs, and age, which were included in the ABC (Age, Biomarkers, Clinical history) stroke risk score. The ABC-stroke score was well calibrated and yielded higher c-indices than the widely used CHA2DS2-VASc score in both the derivation cohort (0.68 vs. 0.62, P ConclusionA novel biomarker-based risk score for predicting stroke in AF was successfully developed and internally validated in a large cohort of patients with AF and further externally validated in an independent AF cohort. The ABC-stroke score performed better than the presently used clinically based risk score and may provide improved decision support in AF.Clinicaltrials gov identifierNCT00412984, NCT00799903

Asymmetric and symmetric dimethylarginine predict outcomes in patients with atrial fibrillation: an ARISTOTLE substudy

Abstract not availableJohn D. Horowitz, Raffaele De Caterina, Tamila Heresztyn, John H. Alexander, Ulrika Andersson, Renato D. Lopes ... et al

Efficacy of surgery in the primary tumor site for metastatic urothelial cancer: analysis of an international, multicenter, multidisciplinary database

Purpose: SUDEP is the first cause of mortality related to epilepsy. However, in Spain there are no published cases or series from Epilepsy Monitoring Units that could expose the characteristics of SUDEP in our population. Method: We reviewed all patients treated at our Spanish Epilepsy Reference Centre who died between 2010-2018. SUDEP cases were classified as definite, probable, possible or near-SUDEP. Epilepsy type, demographics and case detection issues were described. Results: From 1250 evaluated patients, 102 died during the study period. Seven patients were diagnosed with SUDEP or near-SUDEP: two definite SUDEP, one definite SUDEP plus, two probable SUDEP and two near-SUDEP. Specific problems for detection and registration of SUDEP inherent to the Spanish healthcare system and the legal framework were defined. Only 43% of cases were known by the referral neurologist. SUDEP incidence was 1.3 per 1000 patient/year, comprising 0.56% of all deaths in our cohort. Two cases were female, the average age was 36 years (18-61). All patients had focal epilepsy and suffered from generalized tonic-clonic seizures. All witnessed cases occurred after a focal to bilateral tonic-clonic seizure. Four cases occurred during sleep and all non-witnessed cases were found in prone position. One case occurred during video-EEG monitoring. Conclusions: Our casuistic represents the first Epilepsy Monitoring Unit based case series of SUDEP conducted in Spain. The incidence in our population agrees with the reported in other countries. However, in our population, SUDEP is probably underdiagnosed due to administrative and legal issues