Real-World Evaluation of Anticoagulant Treatment Patterns in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation: Data from Multicenter ROTA Study.

OBJECTIVE: Oral anticoagulant therapy is the cornerstone of atrial fibrillation management to prevent stroke and systemic embolism. However, there is limited real-world information regarding stroke and systemic embolism prevention strategies in patients with atrial fibrillation. The aim of the ROTA study is to obtain the real-world data of anticoagulant treatment patterns in patients with atrial fibrillation. METHODS: The ROTA study is a prospective, multicenter, and observational study that included 2597 patients with atrial fibrillation. The study population was recruited from 41 cardiology outpatient clinics between January 2021 and May 2021. RESULTS: The median age of the study population was 72 years (range: 22-98 years) and 57.4% were female. The median CHA2DS2-VASc and HAS-BLED scores were 4 (range: 0-9) and 1 (range: 0-6), respectively. Vitamin K antagonists and direct oral anticoagulants were used in 15.9% and 79.4% of patients, respectively. The mean time in therapeutic range was 52.9% for patients receiving vitamin K antagonists, and 76% of those patients had an inadequate time in therapeutic range with <70%. The most common prescribed direct oral anticoagulants were rivaroxaban (38.1%), apixaban (25.5%), and edoxaban (11.2%). The rate of overuse of vitamin K antagonists and direct oral anticoagulants was high (76.1%) in patients with low stroke risk, and more than one-fourth of patients on direct oral anticoagulant therapy were receiving a reduced dose of direct oral anticoagulants. Among patients who were on direct oral anticoagulant treatment, patients with apixaban treatment were older, had higher CHA2DS2-VASc and HAS-BLED scores, and had lower creatinine clearance than the patients receiving other direct oral anticoagulants. CONCLUSIONS: The ROTA study provides important real-world information about anticoagulant treatment patterns in patients with atrial fibrillation.time in therapeutic range with <70%.

PAIT-Survey Follow-Up: Changes in Albuminuria in Hypertensive Diabetic Patients with Mild-Moderate Chronic Kidney Disease.

INTRODUCTION: Albuminuria is an early marker of kidney disease and reduction of albuminuria translates into a decreased occurrence of cardiovascular and renal outcomes. AIMS: To evaluate the changes in the prevalence of albuminuria in diabetic hypertensive patients treated with several combinations of renin-angiotensin aldosterone system with calcium channel blockers. METHODS: We analysed data from 668 unselected patients from the PAIT survey (mean age 60.4 ± 10.2 years, prevalence of males 38%), with and without albuminuria, maintained for 6 months with the previous treatment with amlodipine-valsartan, amlodipine perindopril, lercanidipine-enalapril, verapamil-trandolapril, nitrendipine-enalapril and felodipine-ramipril Albuminuria was assessed, as urinary albumin-creatinine ratio, using a Multistic-Clinitek device analyzer. Microalbuminuria was defined as a loss of 3.4-33.9 mg albumin/mmol creatinine (30-300 mg/g) and macroalbuminuria as a loss of > 33.9 mg albumin/mmol creatinine (> 300 mg/g). Blood pressure was measured with a validated digital device. RESULTS: At baseline, albuminuria was present in 310 subjects (46.4%) (microalbuminuria in 263 (84.8%), macroalbuminuria in 15.2%), and normoalbuminuria in 53.6% 358. After 6 months, the prevalence of subjects with albuminuria was significantly lowered (p < 0.01) by 23.5% (microalbuminuria - 23.9%, p < 0.01 and macroalbuminuria - 21.3%). The prevalence of subjects with microalbuminuria was reduced with all treatments: amlodipine-valsartan - 15.6%, amlodipine-perindopril - 11.8%, lercanidipine-enalapril - 41.3% and verapamil-trandolapril - 19.2%. Data with nitrendipine-enalapril and felodipine-ramipril were not analyzed, due to the low number of patients. The frequency of patients with normoalbuminuria was significantly higher (p < 0.01) with lercanidipine-enalapril compared with any other treatment. Blood pressure was significantly (p < 0.01) reduced, with a similar effect between treatments. CONCLUSIONS: The treatments decrease the prevalence of subjects with albuminuria, showing a significant difference among the different drug combinations, favoring the use of new dihydropyridine calcium channel blockers, such as lercanidipine, combined with RAAS inhibitors, to control albuminuria in diabetic hypertensive patients.