Detection of subclinical atrial fibrillation with cardiac implanted electronic devices: What decision making on anticoagulation after the NOAH and ARTESiA trials?
Eur J Intern Med
; 123: 37-41, 2024 May.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38281819
ABSTRACT
Atrial fibrillation (AF) may be asymptomatic and the extensive monitoring capabilities of cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIEDs) revealed asymptomatic atrial tachi-arrhythmias of short duration (minutes-hours) occurring in patients with no prior history of AF and without AF detection at a conventional surface ECG. Both the terms "AHRE" (Atrial High-Rate Episodes) and subclinical AF were used in a series of prior studies, that evidenced the association with an increased risk of stroke. Two randomized controlled studies were planned in order to assess the risk-benefit profile of anticoagulation in patients with AHRE/subclinical AF the NOAH and ARTESiA trials. The results of these two trials (6548 patients enrolled, overall) show that the risk of stroke/systemic embolism associated with AHRE/subclinical AF is in the range of 1-1.2 % per patient-year, but with an important proportion of severe/fatal strokes occurring in non-anticoagulated patients. The apparent discordance between ARTESiA and NOAH results may be approached by considering the related study-level meta-analysis, which highlights a consistent reduction of ischemic stroke with oral anticoagulants vs. aspirin/placebo (relative risk [RR] 0.68, 95 % CI 0.50-0.92). Oral anticoagulation was found to increase major bleeding (RR 1.62, 95 % CI 1.05-2.5), but no difference was found in fatal bleeding (RR 0.79, 95 % CI 0.37-1.69). Additionally, no difference was found in cardiovascular death or all-cause mortality. Taking into account these results, clinical decision-making for patients with AHRE/subclinical AF at risk of stroke, according to CHA2DS2-VASc, can now be evidence-based, considering the benefits and related risks of oral anticoagulants, to be shared with appropriately informed patients.
Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Fibrilação Atrial
/
Ensaios Clínicos Controlados Aleatórios como Assunto
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Desfibriladores Implantáveis
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Acidente Vascular Cerebral
/
Anticoagulantes
Tipo de estudo:
Clinical_trials
/
Diagnostic_studies
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Etiology_studies
/
Prognostic_studies
Limite:
Humans
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Eur J Intern Med
Ano de publicação:
2024
Tipo de documento:
Article