• Marc P Bonaca, Rupert M Bauersachs, Sonia S Anand, E Sebastian Debus, Mark R Nehler, Manesh R Patel, Fabrizio Fanelli, Warren H Capell, Lihong Diao, Nicole Jaeger, Connie N Hess, Akos F Pap, John M Kittelson, Ivan Gudz, Lajos Mátyás, Dainis K Krievins, Rafael Diaz, Marianne Brodmann, Eva Muehlhofer, Lloyd P Haskell, Scott D Berkowitz, and William R Hiatt.
• From Colorado Prevention Center (CPC) Clinical Research (M.P.B., M.R.N., W.H.C., L.D., N.J., C.N.H., W.R.H.), the Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine (M.P.B., C.N.H., W.R.H.), the Department of Surgery, Division of Vascular Surgery (M.R.N.), and the Department of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology (W.H.C.), University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, and the Department of Biostatistics and Informatics, Colorado School of Public Health (J.M.K.) - all in Aurora; the Department of Vascular Medicine, Klinikum Darmstadt, Darmstadt, and Center for Thrombosis and Hemostasis, University of Mainz, Mainz (R.M.B.), the Department of Vascular Medicine, Vascular Surgery-Angiology-Endovascular Therapy, University of Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg (E.S.D.), and Bayer, Wuppertal (A.F.P., E.M.) - all in Germany; the Population Health Research Institute, Hamilton Health Sciences and McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada (S.S.A.); Duke Clinical Research Institute, Division of Cardiology, Duke University, Durham, NC (M.R.P.); the Vascular and Interventional Radiology Department, Careggi University Hospital, University of Florence, Florence, Italy (F.F.); Ivano-Frankivsk National Medical University, Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine (I.G.); B-A-Z County University Teaching Hospital, Miskolc, Hungary (L.M.); University of Latvia, Pauls Stradins University Hospital, Riga (D.K.K.); ECLA (Estudios Clínicos Latino América), ICR (Instituto Cardiovascular de Rosario), Rosario, Argentina (R.D.); the Division of Angiology, Medical University Graz, Graz, Austria (M.B.); and Janssen Research and Development, Raritan (L.P.H.), and Thrombosis Group Head, Clinical Development, Bayer U.S., Whippany (S.D.B.) - both in New Jersey.
• N. Engl. J. Med. 2020 May 21; 382 (21): 1994-2004.

BackgroundPatients with peripheral artery disease who have undergone lower-extremity revascularization are at high risk for major adverse limb and cardiovascular events. The efficacy and safety of rivaroxaban in this context are uncertain.MethodsIn a double-blind trial, patients with peripheral artery disease who had undergone revascularization were randomly assigned to receive rivaroxaban (2.5 mg twice daily) plus aspirin or placebo plus aspirin. The primary efficacy outcome was a composite of acute limb ischemia, major amputation for vascular causes, myocardial infarction, ischemic stroke, or death from cardiovascular causes. The principal safety outcome was major bleeding, defined according to the Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction (TIMI) classification; major bleeding as defined by the International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis (ISTH) was a secondary safety outcome.ResultsA total of 6564 patients underwent randomization; 3286 were assigned to the rivaroxaban group, and 3278 were assigned to the placebo group. The primary efficacy outcome occurred in 508 patients in the rivaroxaban group and in 584 in the placebo group; the Kaplan-Meier estimates of the incidence at 3 years were 17.3% and 19.9%, respectively (hazard ratio, 0.85, 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.76 to 0.96; P = 0.009). TIMI major bleeding occurred in 62 patients in the rivaroxaban group and in 44 patients in the placebo group (2.65% and 1.87%; hazard ratio, 1.43; 95% CI, 0.97 to 2.10; P = 0.07). ISTH major bleeding occurred in 140 patients in the rivaroxaban group, as compared with 100 patients in the placebo group (5.94% and 4.06%; hazard ratio, 1.42; 95% CI, 1.10 to 1.84; P = 0.007).ConclusionsIn patients with peripheral artery disease who had undergone lower-extremity revascularization, rivaroxaban at a dose of 2.5 mg twice daily plus aspirin was associated with a significantly lower incidence of the composite outcome of acute limb ischemia, major amputation for vascular causes, myocardial infarction, ischemic stroke, or death from cardiovascular causes than aspirin alone. The incidence of TIMI major bleeding did not differ significantly between the groups. The incidence of ISTH major bleeding was significantly higher with rivaroxaban and aspirin than with aspirin alone. (Funded by Bayer and Janssen Pharmaceuticals; VOYAGER PAD ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT02504216.).Copyright © 2020 Massachusetts Medical Society.

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