Anticoagulation for Atrial Fibrillation Patients with CHADS2Score of 1

Antithrombotic Management After Intracranial Hemorrhage

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

Intracranial hemorrhage remains one of the most feared acute neurological emergencies. However, apart from the acute management, secondary risk factor management and prevention of ischemic events remains ambiguous. We present a thorough review of the current data available regarding management of antithrombotics after intracranial hemorrhage.

RECENT FINDINGS

The most robust evidence comes from the investigators of the RESTART trial which reassured the safety of resuming antiplatelet therapy after ICH, namely in patients with prior indication and treatment with antithrombotics. We conclude that based on available data, the risk of recurrent ICH is probably too small to exceed the found benefits of antiplatelet therapy in the secondary prevention of ischemic vascular disease.

Mille general practice governance (MilleGPG): an interactive tool to address an effective quality of care through the Italian general practice network

The General Practitioner (GP) is the "gate-keeper" in patients' treatment and management. Herein, the use of Electronic Medical Records (EMR) could represent an effective support for GPs. Software capable of managing EMRs are available and they can be functional in adopting treatment guidelines by means of computerized prompts and reminders systems. These tools can be also programmed to include clinical algorithms with which to measure the quality of care to make possible the identification of clinical issues, and to take actions for addressing them. Given that similar tools were not available in Italy, we developed MilleGPG, an interactive tool aimed to evaluate, and subsequently improve the quality of care among patients with comorbidities.

Thromboembolic risk evaluation in patients with atrial fibrillation using a modified CHADS(2) scoring system

BACKGROUND

Antithrombotic recommendations for relatively low risk patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) are not well established. Some patients with CHADS(2) score = 0 have a CHA(2) DS(2) -VASc score of 2, which indicated warfarin therapy in the latter system. We evaluated the thromboembolic risk in AF patients with a CHADS(2) score of 0 or 1.

METHODS

A total of 695 patients with AF that were followed for ≥ 12 months (median 65.6 months, range 12-138 months), were analyzed retrospectively. The modified CHADS(2) score (MCS) was applied as follows. Each CHADS(2) score group was divided into 2 groups, A and B (i.e., MCS 0A vs 0B, and MCS 1A vs 1B) according to the number of nonmajor risk factors (female gender, chronic kidney disease, coronary artery disease, age 65-74 years). Group A had 0 or 1, and group B had 2 or more nonmajor risk factors.

RESULTS

In patients with CHADS(2) score = 1, there were 13 thromboembolic events (0.65%/year) in 343 MCS 1A patients, and 12 thromboembolic events (1.90%/year) in 108 MCS 1B patients. Thromboembolic risk was significantly higher in the MCS 1B compared to the MCS 1A patients (P = 0.006). In 244 patients with CHADS(2) score = 0, the thromboembolic risk of MCS 0B was similar to that of MCS 0A (P = 0.095), and 26 patients had a CHA(2) DS(2) -VASc score of 2.

CONCLUSION

Patients with MCS 1B had a higher thromboembolic risk than patients with MCS 1A. Antithrombotic strategies for patients with a CHA(2) DS(2) -VASc score of 2 but a CHADS(2) score of 0 need further investigation.

Stroke risk stratification in a "real-world" elderly anticoagulated atrial fibrillation population

Stroke Risk Stratification. 

INTRODUCTION

Appropriate stroke risk stratification is essential to ensure suitable tailoring of antithrombotic therapy. The objective of this study was to assess the predictive value of stroke risk classification schemes and to identify patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) who are at substantial risk of stroke despite optimal anticoagulant therapy, in a "real world" consecutive elderly AF cohort.

METHODS

Six hundred and sixty-two consecutive AF patients (mean [SD] age 74 [7.7] years; 36.1% female) referred to the Anticoagulation Clinic of the Azienda Ospedaliera Careggi of Florence, Italy, were included and followed-up for a mean 3.6 ± 2.7 years for the incidence of thromboembolic (TE) events. The ability of the new CHA(2) DS(2) -VASc schema to predict TE was compared with other contemporary stroke risk schema (including CHADS(2) , NICE 2006, ACC/AHA/ESC 2006, and ACCP 2008), by determining the c-statistic.

RESULTS

Univariate predictors of TE events were female gender (odds ratio 1.9; 95%CI [confidence intervals] 1.01-3.70) and previous stroke/transient ischemic attack (TIA)/TE (OR 5.6; 95%CI 2.70-11.45), although after adjustment only previous stroke/TIA/TE was an independent predictor of TE (OR 5.5; 95%CI 2.68-11.31; P = 0.0001). All stroke risk schema had modest discriminating ability, with c-statistics ranging from 0.54 (atrial fibrillation investigators [AFI]) to 0.72 (CHA(2) DS(2) -VASc). The CHADS(2) and CHA(2) DS(2) -VASc schemes having the best c-statistics (0.717 and 0.724, respectively) with significant discriminating value between risk strata (both P < 0.001). The proportion of patients assigned to individual risk categories varied widely across the schema, with those categorized as "moderate-risk" ranging from 5.3% (CHA(2) DS(2) -VASc) to 49.2% (CHADS(2) -classical).

CONCLUSION

In this "real world" cohort, current published risk schemas have modest predictive ability, with the CHADS(2) and CHA(2) DS(2) -VASc schemes having the best predictive value for thromboembolism. Future trials could assess the value of alternative strategies for thromboprophylaxis in high-risk anticoagulated patients identified by these schemes.