Medicina clinica
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Multicenter Study
Characteristics and management of patients with stroke and major hemorrhagic episodes with atrial fibrillation under vitamin K antagonist therapy. EVENTHO study.
In Spain, vitamin K antagonists (VKA) remain the standard treatment for the prevention of thromboembolic and hemorrhagic complications in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF), despite the high risks of suffering adverse effects. The objective of this study was to characterize the profile of VKA-treated patients suffering from stroke/systemic embolism (SE) or major hemorrhagic episodes, their evolution and the actions taken after those episodes. ⋯ In the sample studied, half of the AF patients who suffered stroke/SE or major hemorrhagic episode had inadequate TTR and, despite this, after hospital discharge, they restarted treatment with VKA. These results highlight the need to evaluate safer and effective therapeutic alternatives in AF patients with poor TTR control after suffering a stroke/SE or major hemorrhagic episode.