Clinical Performance of Apixaban vs. Vitamin K Antagonists in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation Undergoing Direct Electrical Current Cardioversion: A Prospective Propensity Score-Matched Cohort Study.

INTRODUCTION: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is associated with an increased risk of thromboembolic events. OBJECTIVES: This study compared the long-term efficacy and safety of apixaban with that of uninterrupted vitamin K antagonist (VKA) therapy in patients with AF scheduled for transesophageal echocardiogram (TEE)-guided direct current cardioversion (DCC) from June 2014 to September 2016. METHODS: We enrolled consecutive patients with persistent nonvalvular AF scheduled to undergo DCC. Patients received apixaban 5 mg or 2.5 mg twice daily (bid) or VKA at therapeutic doses for at least 3 weeks before and 4 weeks after DCC. All patients underwent anamnestic, clinical, electrocardiographic, and echocardiographic evaluation at each follow-up visit and were followed-up for 12 months. The primary efficacy endpoint was the composite of stroke/transient ischemic attack and systemic embolism. The primary safety endpoint was major bleeding. RESULTS: After propensity score matching, comparative treatment groups comprised 182 (75.8%) patients receiving apixaban 5 mg bid and 182 receiving VKA. A low incidence of atrial thrombus (0.5%) at TEE was found in both groups. The acute cardioversion success rate was 86.1% in the apixaban group (156/181) and 83.9% in the VKA group (152/181). During the follow-up period, a similarly low incidence of thromboembolic events (1.1%) was reported in both groups; the bleeding safety profile tended to favor apixaban over VKA (1.1 vs. 1.6%; p = 0.3). CONCLUSIONS: Newly initiated anticoagulation with apixaban in patients with nonvalvular AF scheduled for TEE-guided DCC seems to be as effective and safe as uninterrupted VKA therapy during 12 months of follow-up.

Myotonic dystrophy type 1 and pulmonary embolism: successful thrombus resolution with dabigatran etexilate therapy.

Myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1) is the most common form of adult muscular dystrophy. It is an autosomal dominant inherited disease with multisystemic involvement. Respiratory function is often affected and respiratory failure is the most common cause of death. Pulmonary embolism is a rare cause of respiratory failure in DM1 patients, so that the best anticoagulation strategy in these patients is still unclear. We describe the case of pulmonary embolism in a DM1 patient, in which pulmonary thrombus was completely resolved with oral dabigatran etexilate therapy.

Heart transplantation in a patient with Myotonic Dystrophy type 1 and end-stage dilated cardiomyopathy: a short term follow-up.

Myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1) or Steinert's disease is the most common muscular dystrophy in adult life with an estimated prevalence of 1:8000. Cardiac involvement, including arrhythmias and conduction disorders, contributes significantly to the morbidity and mortality of the disease. Mild ventricular dysfunction has also been reported associated with conduction disorders, but severe ventricular systolic dysfunction is not a frequent feature and usually occurs late in the course of the disease. Heart transplantation is currently considered the ultimate gold standard surgical approach in the treatment of refractory heart failure in general population. To date, considering the shortage of donors that limit the achievement of a greater number of heart transplants and the reluctance of the cardiac surgeons to transplant patients with dystrophic cardiomyopathy, little is known about the number of patients with DM1 transplanted and their outcome. We report the case of a 44 year old patient with Steinert disease who showed an early onset ventricular dysfunction refractory to optimal medical and cardiac resincronization therapy, and underwent to successful heart transplantation. At our knowledge, this is the second heart transplantation performed in a patient affected by Steinert disease after the one reported by Conraads et al in 2002.