Apixaban in patients with atrial fibrillation: patient characteristics of the Latin America cohort from a multinational clinical trial

Patients with Atrial fibrillation (AF), have a five-fold increase in the risk of stroke. Treatment for AF include stroke prevention therapy. Vitamin K antagonists (VKAs) have shown to prevent stroke in AF patients. Apixaban, a novel oral direct factor Xa inhibitor was studied in AF patients whom VKA therapy was unsuitable. Apixaban demonstrated clinical benefit in stroke or systemic embolism reduction without impacting the risk of major bleeding or intracranial hemorrhage. Patient characteristics of the Latin America (LA) cohort and overall population are presented.