Highlights
- •Real-world oral anti-coagulant treatment status was clarified.
- •The event rate with direct anti-coagulants was significantly lower than warfarin.
- •Adverse events tended to be lower with direct oral anticoagulants than warfarin.
Abstract
Background
Oral anticoagulant therapy for atrial fibrillation (AF) has changed dramatically.
Direct oral anticoagulant (DOAC) therapy is administered by general practitioners
and specialists. However, the beneficial long-term effects and safety of DOACs have
not been well investigated in real-world clinical practice.
Methods
The ASSAF-K (a study of the safety and efficacy of OAC therapy in the treatment of
AF in Kanagawa), a prospective, multi-center, observational study, was conducted to
clarify patient characteristics, status of OAC treatment, long-term outcomes, and
adverse events, including cerebrovascular disease, bleeding, and death.
Results
A total of 4014 patients were enrolled (hospital: 2500 cases; clinic: 1514 cases).
The number of patients in the final dataset was 3367 (mean age, 72.6 ± 10.0 years;
males, 66.3 %). CHA2DS2-VASc and HAS-BLED scores were 3.0 ± 1.6 and 2.2 ± 1.0, respectively. The risk factors
of the primary composite outcome (all-cause death, serious bleeding events, cerebral
hemorrhage, and stroke) were higher age, lower body mass index, lower diastolic blood
pressure, lower creatine clearance, history of heart failure, history of stroke, and
medication of anti-platelet agents. The event-free rates of the primary composite
outcome with DOACs, warfarin, and without OACs were 92.7 %, 88.0 %, and 87.4 %, respectively.
The event rate of DOACs was significantly lower than that of warfarin [HR 0.63 (95 %
CI 0.48–0.81)], and similar results were observed after adjustment for AF stroke risk
score [HR 0.70 (95 % CI 0.54–0.90)]. Serious bleeding events tended to occur less
frequently with DOACs compared with warfarin [unadjusted HR 0.53 (95 % CI 0.31–0.91),
adjusted HR 0.61 (95 % CI 0.33–1.11)].
Conclusions
This multi-center registry demonstrated the long-term outcome in patients with AF
treated with and without OACs and suggests that DOAC therapy is safe and beneficial
in hospitals and clinics.
Graphical abstract
Graphical Abstract
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: September 12, 2022
Accepted:
August 21,
2022
Received in revised form:
August 11,
2022
Received:
May 5,
2022
Identification
Copyright
© 2022 Japanese College of Cardiology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. All rights reserved.
