Heart Failure and Mortality in Patients With Nonvalvular Atrial Fibrillation Started on Novel Oral Anticoagulant Therapy: A Single-Center Experience

Outcome reporting from clinical trials of non-valvular atrial fibrillation treated with traditional Chinese medicine or Western medicine: a systematic review

OBJECTIVES

To examine variation in outcomes, outcome measurement instruments (OMIs) and measurement times in clinical trials of non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) and to identify outcomes for prioritisation in developing a core outcome set (COS) in this field.

DESIGN

This study was a systematic review.

DATA SOURCES

Clinical trials published between January 2015 and March 2019 were obtained from PubMed, the Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Wanfang Database, the China National Knowledge Infrastructure and SinoMed.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and observational studies were considered. Interventions included traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine. The required treatment duration or follow-up time was ≥4 weeks. The required sample size was ≥30 and≥50 in each group in RCTs and observational studies, respectively. We excluded trials that aimed to investigate the outcome of complications of NVAF, to assess the mechanisms or pharmacokinetics, or for which full text could not be acquired.

DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS

The general information and outcomes, OMIs and measurement times were extracted. The methodological and outcome reporting quality were assessed. The results were analysed by descriptive analysis.

RESULTS

A total of 218 articles were included from 25 255 articles. For clinical trials of antiarrhythmic therapy, 69 outcomes from 16 outcome domains were reported, and 28 (31.82%, 28/88) outcomes were reported only once; the most frequently reported outcome was ultrasonic cardiogram. Thirty-one outcomes (44.93%, 31/69) were provided definitions or OMIs; the outcome measurement times ranged from 1 to 20 with a median of 3. For clinical trials of anticoagulation therapy, 82 outcomes from 18 outcome domains were reported; 38 (29.23%, 38/130) outcomes were reported only once. The most frequently reported outcome was ischaemic stroke. Forty (48.78%, 40/82) outcomes were provided OMIs or definitions; and the outcome measurement times ranged from 1 to 27 with a median of 8.

CONCLUSION

Outcome reporting in NVAF is inconsistent. Thus, developing a COS that can be used in clinical trials is necessary.

Potential Causes and Implications of Low Target Therapeutic Ratio in Warfarin-Treated Patients for Thrombosis Prophylaxis: A Single-Center Experience

Time in therapeutic range (TTR) of international normalized ratio is crucial for the safety and efficacy of anticoagulation with warfarin and it is influenced by many factors. There are limited data about the quality of warfarin therapy and its effects on clinical outcomes in Turkey. The aim of this study is to demonstrate the quality of anticoagulant therapy with warfarin and evaluate the parameters that affect the quality of warfarin therapy. A total of 170 patients with atrial fibrillation (AF; mean age: 62.2 ± 13.3; 69.2% female) treated with warfarin were included in this study. The mean follow-up period was 20 ± 8.4 months. The mean TTR levels of all patients were found to be 54.2% ± 21.4%. The TTR levels were similar in patients with valvular AF (VAF) and nonvalvular AF (NVAF). Logistic regression analysis revealed that elderly, heart failure (HF), and renal dysfunction were independent predictors of lower TTR. There were no significant differences between the VAF and NVAF subgroups regarding the incidence of mortality, stroke, and myocardial infarction. Cox regression analysis revealed that HF, coronary artery disease, and renal dysfunction were independent predictors of clinical outcomes in addition to lower TTR. Our results provide data regarding the quality of anticoagulation with warfarin from a single tertiary center in Istanbul, Turkey. The questions remain in seeking quality improvement in anticoagulation.