• Shoji Arihiro, Kenichi Todo, Masatoshi Koga, Eisuke Furui, Naoto Kinoshita, Kazumi Kimura, Hiroshi Yamagami, Tadashi Terasaki, Sohei Yoshimura, Yoshiaki Shiokawa, Kenji Kamiyama, Shunya Takizawa, Satoshi Okuda, Yasushi Okada, Yoshinari Nagakane, Tomoaki Kameda, Yasuhiro Hasegawa, Satoshi Shibuya, Yasuhiro Ito, Takahiro Nakashima, Kazuhiro Takamatsu, Kazutoshi Nishiyama, Takayuki Matsuki, Kazunari Homma, Junji Takasugi, Keisuke Tokunaga, Shoichiro Sato, Kazuomi Kario, Takanari Kitazono, Kazunori Toyoda, and SAMURAI Study Investigators.
• Department of Cerebrovascular Medicine, National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center, Suita, Japan.
• Int J Stroke. 2016 Jul 1; 11 (5): 565-74.

AimsThis study was performed to determine the short-term risk-benefit profiles of patients treated with oral anticoagulation for acute ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack using a multicenter, prospective registry.MethodsA total of 1137 patients (645 men, 77 ± 10 years old) with acute ischemic stroke/transient ischemic attack taking warfarin (662 patients) or non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants (dabigatran in 205, rivaroxaban in 245, apixaban in 25 patients) for nonvalvular atrial fibrillation who completed a three-month follow-up survey were studied. Choice of anticoagulants was not randomized. Primary outcome measures were stroke/systemic embolism and major bleeding.ResultsBoth warfarin and non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants were initiated within four days after stroke/transient ischemic attack onset in the majority of cases. Non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulant users had lower ischemia- and bleeding-risk indices (CHADS2, CHA2DS2-VASc, HAS-BLED) and milder strokes than warfarin users. The three-month cumulative rate of stroke/systemic embolism was 3.06% (95% CI 1.96%-4.74%) in warfarin users and 2.84% (1.65%-4.83%) in non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulant users (adjusted HR 0.96, 95% CI 0.44-2.04). The rate of major bleeding was 2.61% (1.60%-4.22%) and 1.11% (0.14%-1.08%), respectively (HR 0.63, 0.19-1.78); that for intracranial hemorrhage was marginally significantly lower in non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulant users (HR 0.17, 0.01-1.15). Major bleeding did not occur in non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulant users with a CHADS2 score <4 or those with a discharge modified Rankin Scale score ≤2.ConclusionsStroke or systemic embolism during the initial three-month anticoagulation period after stroke/transient ischemic attack was not frequent as compared to previous findings regardless of warfarin or non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants were used. Intracranial hemorrhage was relatively uncommon in non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulant users, although treatment assignment was not randomized. Early initiation of non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants during the acute stage of stroke/transient ischemic attack in real-world clinical settings seems safe in bleeding-susceptible Japanese population.© 2016 World Stroke Organization.

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