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- Giuseppe Boriani, Marco Proietti, Cécile Laroche, Igor Diemberger, Mircea Ioachim Popescu, Sam Riahi, Alena Shantsila, Gheorghe-Andrei Dan, Luigi Tavazzi, Aldo P Maggioni, Lip Gregory Y H GYH Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences, University of Birmingham, United Kingdom; Aalborg Thrombosis Research Unit, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aal, and EORP-AF Pilot General Registry Investigators.
- Cardiology Division, Department of Diagnostics, Clinical and Public Health Medicine, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Policlinico di Modena, Modena, Italy. Electronic address: giuseppe.boriani@unimore.it.
- Int. J. Cardiol. 2018 Nov 15; 271: 68-74.
BackgroundContemporary European data regarding patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) allow us to assess the use of oral anticoagulants (OACs) and long-term outcomes.MethodsPatients with AF presenting to cardiologists in 9 European Society of Cardiology participating countries were enrolled and followed-up for 3-years.ResultsAmong the 2119 patients (40.4% female; mean age 69 ± 11 years) the prevalent types of AF at baseline were first-detected (30.5%) and paroxysmal AF (27.0%). The composite of stroke/TIA/peripheral embolism/all-cause death at 3-years occurred in 18.2%, with first detected AF and permanent AF reporting the highest event rates (22.5% and 27.3%, respectively; p < 0.0001). Age, diabetes mellitus, heart failure, restrictive cardiomyopathy, chronic kidney disease and no physical activity were significant predictors of all-cause death. Paroxysmal and persistent AF patients were more likely to be hospitalised than other types of AF (34.1% and 37.9%, p < 0.0001). At follow-up, OAC drugs were used in 80.1% of patients, with non-vitamin K antagonists (NOACs) accounting for 24.3% of patients. OAC treatment at follow-up visits changed throughout time, with a shift from VKA to NOACs reported in 5.4% of the cases, while the reverse shift (from NOACs to VKA) occurred in 8.6%. Discontinuation of OAC was recorded in while in 9.5% of visits.ConclusionsPatients outcomes at 3-years follow-up differ according to type of AF at baseline, with worse outcomes in patients presenting with first-detected or permanent AF. Changes in the type of OAC use with shifts from NOACs to VKA and vice-versa are not uncommon, as were interruptions of OAC.Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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