Background characteristics and anticoagulant usage patterns of elderly non-valvular atrial fibrillation patients in the ANAFIE registry: a prospective, multicentre, observational cohort study in Japan

Time trends in antithrombotic therapy prescription patterns: Real-world monocentric study in hospitalized patients with atrial fibrillation

BACKGROUND

Since 2010, the European Society of Cardiology has extended prescription criteria for oral antithrombotic therapy (OAT) in atrial fibrillation (AF). Direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) were upgraded from an IIAa recommendation in 2012 to an IA in 2016. In real-world scenarios, however, OAC prescription is still suboptimal, mainly for DOACs.

AIM

To evaluate OAT temporal prescription patterns in a cohort of patients hospitalized with AF in a Cardiology Department.

METHODS

A retrospective observational study was conducted on a cohort of hospitalized patients in a secondary setting (Trapani, Italy) from 2010 to 2021 with AF as the main or secondary diagnosis. For 4089 consecutive patients, the variables extracted from the Cardiology department database were: Sex, age, time of hospitalization, antithrombotic therapy (warfarin, acenocoumarol, apixaban, dabigatran, edoxaban, rivaroxaban, aspirin, clopidogrel, other antiplatelet agents, low molecular weight heparin, and fondaparinux), diagnosis at discharge and used resources. Basal features are presented as percentage values for categorized variables and as mean +/- SD for categorized once.

RESULTS

From January 1st, 2010 to October 6th, 2021, 25132 patients were hospitalized in our department; 4089 (16.27%, mean age 75.59+/-10.82) were discharged with AF diagnosis; of them, 2245 were males (54.81%, mean age 73.56+/-11.45) and 1851 females (45.19%, mean age 78.06+/-9.47). Average length of stay was 5.76+/-4.88 days; 154 patients died and 88 were moved to other Departments/Structures. AF was the main diagnosis in 899 patients (21.94%). The most frequent main diagnosis in patients with AF was acute myocardial infarction (1973 discharges, 48.19%). The most frequent secondary cardiac diagnosis was chronic coronary syndrome (1864 discharges, 45.51%), and the most frequent secondary associated condition was arterial hypertension (1010 discharges, 24.66%). For the analysis of antithrombotic treatments, the final sample included 3067 patients, after excluding in-hospital deaths, transferred out or self-discharged patients, as well as discharges lacking indications for prescribed treatments. OAC treatment increased significantly (35.63% in 2010-2012 vs 61.18% in 2019-2021, +25.55%, P < 0.0001), in spite of any antiplatelet agent use. This rise was due to increasing use of DOACs, with or without antiplatelet agents, from 3.04% in 2013-2015 to 50.06% in 2019-2021 (+47.02%, P < 0.0001) and was greater for factor Xa inhibitors, especially apixaban. In addition, treatment with a vitamin K antagonist, in spite of any antiplatelet agent use, decreased from 35.63% in 2010-2012 to 11.12% in 2019-2021 (-24.48%, P < 0.0001), as well as any antiplatelet therapy, alone or in double combination, (49.18% in 2010-2012 vs 34.18% in 2019-2021, -15.00%, P < 0.0001); and patients not receiving antithrombotic therapy declined with time (14.58% in 2010-2012 vs 1.97% in 2021, P < 0.0001).

CONCLUSION

Real-world patients with AF are elderly and affected by cardiovascular and non-cardiovascular diseases. The percentage of patients on OAT and DOACs increased. These data suggest a slow, gradual guidelines implementation process.

Prognostic impact of heart rate during atrial fibrillation on clinical outcomes in elderly non-valvular atrial fibrillation patients: ANAFIE Registry sub-cohort study

BACKGROUND

Elderly patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) are at a higher risk for all-cause mortality and heart failure. Rate control is an essential component in AF management. This exploratory study assessed the relationship between resting heart rate during AF at baseline and clinical outcomes in Japanese elderly non-valvular AF (NVAF) patients, using the All Nippon AF In the Elderly Registry (ANAFIE) dataset.

METHODS

This sub-cohort included patients who agreed to participate and presented with AF at enrollment in the ANAFIE study. They were categorized into six groups according to the resting heart rate during AF. Outcomes included 2-year cumulative incidences of stroke/systemic embolic events (SEE), ischemic stroke, major bleeding, cardiovascular (CV) events, CV death, all-cause death, and net clinical outcome, a composite of stroke/SEE, major bleeding, and all-cause death.

RESULTS

Of the 8292 patients included in this sub-cohort (paroxysmal, 1496; non-paroxysmal, 6796), 90 % of patients were using anticoagulants. Higher heart rate was more frequently reported in women and in patients with paroxysmal AF and was associated with increased use of direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) and antiarrhythmic drugs. Heart rate ≥110 beats per minute (bpm) was associated with a significantly higher incidence of cardiac events and numerically higher incidences of CV death and all-cause death compared with a heart rate of 60 to <80 bpm, all of which were driven by an increased risk in patients with non-paroxysmal AF. Hazard ratios by the type of anticoagulant for each clinical outcome were comparable across all heart rate categories, indicating no significant interactions.

CONCLUSIONS

Elderly Japanese patients with non-paroxysmal NVAF and a heart rate ≥110 bpm have an increased risk of cardiac events. There was no interaction between heart rate category and the relative risk of adverse clinical events in patients taking DOACs compared with those taking warfarin.

Impact of Previous Stroke on Clinical Outcome in Elderly Patients With Nonvalvular Atrial Fibrillation: ANAFIE Registry

Background:

We determined the long-term event incidence among elderly patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation in terms of history of stroke/transient ischemic attack (TIA) and oral anticoagulation.

Methods:

Patients aged ≥75 years with documented nonvalvular atrial fibrillation enrolled in the prospective, multicenter, observational All Nippon Atrial Fibrillation in the Elderly Registry between October 2016 and January 2018 were divided into 2 groups according to history of stroke/TIA. The primary end point was the occurrence of stroke/systemic embolism within 2 years, and secondary end points were major bleeding and all-cause death within 2 years. Cox models were used to determine whether there was a difference in the hazard of each end point in patients with/without history of stroke/TIA, and in ischemic stroke/TIA survivors taking direct oral anticoagulants versus those taking warfarin.

Results:

Of 32 275 evaluable patients (13 793 women [42.7%]; median age, 81.0 years), 7304 (22.6%) had a history of stroke/TIA. The patients with previous stroke/TIA were more likely to be male and older and had higher hazard rates of stroke/systemic embolism (adjusted hazard ratio, 2.25 [95% CI, 1.97–2.58]), major bleeding (1.25, 1.05–1.49), and all-cause death (1.13, 1.02–1.24) than the other groups. Of 6446 patients with prior ischemic stroke/TIA, 4393 (68.2%) were taking direct oral anticoagulants and 1668 (25.9%) were taking warfarin at enrollment. The risk of stroke/systemic embolism was comparable between these 2 groups (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.90 [95% CI, 0.71–1.14]), while the risk of major bleeding (0.67, 0.48–0.94), intracranial hemorrhage (0.57, 0.39–0.85), and cardiovascular death (0.71, 0.51–0.99) was lower among those taking direct oral anticoagulants.

Conclusions:

Patients aged ≥75 years with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation and previous stroke/TIA more commonly had subsequent ischemic and hemorrhagic events than those without previous stroke/TIA. Among patients with previous ischemic stroke/TIA, the risk of hemorrhagic events was lower in patients taking direct oral anticoagulants compared with warfarin.

REGISTRATION:

URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov; Unique Identifier: UMIN000024006.