Apixaban to prevent stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation: a review.

Abstract

Atrial fibrillation is a common, costly and morbid cardiovascular arrhythmia. Stroke prevention remains the mainstay of treatment for atrial fibrillation, and the recent advent of novel oral anticoagulants with direct factor IIa or factor Xa inhibition has significantly revolutionized this aspect of treatment for atrial fibrillation patients. This review focuses on the tolerability and efficacy of apixaban and tackles the generalizability of the findings with apixaban to broader patient populations than those primarily enrolled in the clinical trials, drawing from the AVERROES and ARISTOTLE trials and their subsequent secondary analyses. Taken together, findings from these trials show that apixaban is superior to warfarin in preventing stroke with a lower risk of major bleeding in the general population of patients with atrial fibrillation as well as in several key high-risk patient subgroups.

• Authors: Benjamin E Peterson, Sana M Al-Khatib, Christopher B Granger
• Journal: Therapeutic advances in cardiovascular disease (Ther Adv Cardiovasc Dis) Vol. 11 Issue 3 Pg. 91-104 (Mar 2017) ISSN: 1753-9455 [Electronic] England
• PMID: 27342651 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Review)

Chemical References

• Factor Xa Inhibitors
• Pyrazoles
• Pyridones
• apixaban

Topics

• Administration, Oral
• Atrial Fibrillation (complications, drug therapy)
• Factor Xa Inhibitors (administration & dosage)
• Humans
• Pyrazoles (administration & dosage)
• Pyridones (administration & dosage)
• Stroke (etiology, prevention & control)