Long-Term Population-Based Cerebral Ischemic Event and Cognitive Outcomes of Direct Oral Anticoagulants Compared With Warfarin Among Long-term Anticoagulated Patients for Atrial Fibrillation.

Direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) have been used in clinical practice in the United States for the last 4 to 6 years. Although DOACs may be an attractive alternative to warfarin in many patients, long-term outcomes of use of these medications are unknown. We performed a propensity-matched analysis to report patient important outcomes of death, stroke/transient ischemic attack (TIA), bleeding, major bleeding, and dementia in patients taking a DOAC or warfarin. Patients receiving long-term anticoagulation from June 2010 to December 2014 for thromboembolism prevention with either warfarin or a DOAC were matched 1:1 by index date and propensity score. Multivariable Cox hazard regression was performed to determine the risk of death, stroke/TIA, major bleed, and dementia by the anticoagulant therapy received. A total of 5,254 patients were studied (2,627 per group). Average age was 72.4 ± 10.9 years, and 59.0% were men. Most patients were receiving long-term anticoagulation for AF management (warfarin: 96.5% vs DOAC: 92.7%, p <0.0001). Rivaroxaban (55.3%) was the most commonly used DOAC, followed by apixaban (22.5%) and dabigatran (22.2%). The use of DOACs compared with warfarin was associated with a reduced risk of long-term adverse outcomes: death (p = 0.09), stroke/TIA (p <0.0001), major bleed (p <0.0001), and bleed (p = 0.14). No significant outcome variance was noted in DOAC-type comparison. In the AF multivariable model patients taking DOAC were 43% less likely to develop stroke/TIA/dementia (hazard ratio 0.57 [CI 0.17, 1.97], p = 0.38) than those taking warfarin. Our community-based results suggest better long-term efficacy and safety of DOACs compared with warfarin. DOAC use was associated with a lower risk of cerebral ischemic events and new-onset dementia.

Increasing time between first diagnosis of atrial fibrillation and catheter ablation adversely affects long-term outcomes.

BACKGROUND: Many patients who develop atrial fibrillation (AF) will experience a worsening of their arrhythmia over time. The optimal time to proceed with catheter ablation during the disease course is unknown. Further, whether delays in treatment will negatively influence outcomes is unknown. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of delay in treatment after the first clinical diagnosis of AF on ablation-related outcomes. METHODS: A total of 4535 consecutive patients who underwent an AF ablation procedure that had long-term established care within an integrated health care system were evaluated. Recursive partitioning was used to determine categories associated with changes in risk from the time of first AF diagnosis to first AF ablation: 1: 30-180 (n = 1152), 2: 181-545 (n = 856), 3: 546-1825 (n = 1326), and 4: >1825 (n = 1201) days. Outcomes evaluated include 1-year AF recurrence, stroke, heart failure hospitalization, and death. RESULTS: With increasing time to treatment, surprisingly patients were older (1: 63.7 ± 11.1, 2: 62.6 ± 11.8, 3: 66.4 ± 10.2, 4: 67.6 ± 9.7; P <.0001) and had more hypertension (1: 53.0%, 2: 59.0%, 3: 53.8%, 4: 39.0%; P <.0001). For each strata of time increase, there was a direct increase of 1-year AF recurrence (1: 19.4%, 2: 23.4%, 3: 24.9%, 4: 24.0%: P trend = .02). After adjustment, clinically significant differences in risk of recurrent AF were found when compared to the 30-180 day time category: 181-545: odds ratio (OR) = 1.23, P = .08; 546-1825: OR = 1.27, P = .02; and >1825: OR = 1.25, P = .05. No differences were observed for 1-year stroke among the groups. Death (1: 2.1%, 2: 3.9%, 3: 5.7%, 4: 4.4%: P trend = .001) and heart failure hospitalization (1: 2.6%, 2: 4.1%, 3: 5.4%, 4: 4.4%; P trend = .009) rates at 1 year were higher in the most delayed groups. CONCLUSION: Delays in treatment with catheter ablation impact procedural success rates independent of temporal changes to the AF subtype at ablation.

Warfarin knowledge in patients with atrial fibrillation: implications for safety, efficacy, and education strategies.

BACKGROUND: Multiple factors influence warfarin metabolism and can significantly affect the risk of adverse events. The extent to which patients understand the modifiable factors that impact on warfarin safety and efficacy is unclear. METHODS: A 52-item questionnaire related to knowledge of warfarin was administered to patients with atrial fibrillation in a face-to-face interview with a dietitian. Results were compiled based on five categories: general warfarin knowledge, compliance, drug interactions, herbal or vitamin interactions, and diet. RESULTS: 100 patients were surveyed. Stroke risk factors included hypertension (57%), heart failure (36%), age >75 years (33%), diabetes (22%), and prior stroke/transient ischemic attack (29%). The majority were either high-school (49%) or college graduates (27%). Ten (10%) had a stroke while on warfarin, 11 (11%) had a blood transfusion, and 26 (26%) had at least one fall. The percentages correct for questionnaire items in the five categories were as follows: general knowledge (62%), compliance (71%), drug interactions (17%), herbal or vitamin interactions (7%), and diet (23%). Neither education level nor duration of therapy correlated with warfarin knowledge. Patients at highest risk of stroke had very low knowledge scores in general. DISCUSSION: Patients on warfarin have a poor general understanding of the medication, particularly those at highest risk of stroke.

Image integration using intracardiac ultrasound and 3D reconstruction for scar mapping and ablation of ventricular tachycardia.

BACKGROUND: Ablation of ventricular tachycardia (VT) reduces implantable cardioverter defibrillator shocks. Intracardiac ultrasound (ICE) can visualize and quantify the function of all left ventricular wall segments. We thus hypothesized that ICE could identify scar tissue and provide a guide to facilitate substrate-guided VT ablation. METHODS: Eighteen patients underwent VT ablation with real time ICE mapping from the right atrium and ventricle with online 3D-image reconstruction of scar segments. The left ventricle was also scar mapped by traditional electroanatomic mapping (CARTO) for comparison. Images from these 2 scar mapping techniques were compared to each other as well as to a preprocedure transthoracic echocardiogram. RESULTS: The average age was 65 +/- 12 years and 12 (67%) were male (15 [83%] had ischemic cardiomyopathy). Two patients (12%) had recurrence of their clinical VT (1 remained on an antiarrhythmic medication, the other had a repeat ablation) over a follow-up of 127 +/- 33 days. No periprocedural or long-term adverse events occurred. A total of 248 wall segments were analyzed. All 3 modalities were concordant in scar identification in 193 (78%) segments. The ICE segments correlated with the electroanatomic map in 213 (86%) segments versus 198 (80%), which correlated with transthoracic echocardiography and electroanatomic mapping (P = 0.046). Specifically, the ICE wall motion scores were closer to the electroanatomic mapping in the basal segments and showed a higher accuracy in ischemic heart disease. CONCLUSION: These data demonstrate that real time ICE images provide accurate chamber geometries and scar boundaries of the left ventricle. These scar borders were more accurate than transthoracic echocardiography and illustrate the feasibility of ICE for substrate-based ablation for VT.