Recurrent Ischemic Stroke and Bleeding in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation Who Suffered an Acute Stroke While on Treatment With Nonvitamin K Antagonist Oral Anticoagulants: The RENO-EXTEND Study.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

In patients with atrial fibrillation who suffered an ischemic stroke while on treatment with nonvitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants, rates and determinants of recurrent ischemic events and major bleedings remain uncertain.

METHODS:

This prospective multicenter observational study aimed to estimate the rates of ischemic and bleeding events and their determinants in the follow-up of consecutive patients with atrial fibrillation who suffered an acute cerebrovascular ischemic event while on nonvitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulant treatment. Afterwards, we compared the estimated risks of ischemic and bleeding events between the patients in whom anticoagulant therapy was changed to those who continued the original treatment.

RESULTS:

After a mean follow-up time of 15.0±10.9 months, 192 out of 1240 patients (15.5%) had 207 ischemic or bleeding events corresponding to an annual rate of 13.4%. Among the events, 111 were ischemic strokes, 15 systemic embolisms, 24 intracranial bleedings, and 57 major extracranial bleedings. Predictive factors of recurrent ischemic events (strokes and systemic embolisms) included CHA2DS2-VASc score after the index event (odds ratio [OR], 1.2 [95% CI, 1.0-1.3] for each point increase; P=0.05) and hypertension (OR, 2.3 [95% CI, 1.0-5.1]; P=0.04). Predictive factors of bleeding events (intracranial and major extracranial bleedings) included age (OR, 1.1 [95% CI, 1.0-1.2] for each year increase; P=0.002), history of major bleeding (OR, 6.9 [95% CI, 3.4-14.2]; P=0.0001) and the concomitant administration of an antiplatelet agent (OR, 2.8 [95% CI, 1.4-5.5]; P=0.003). Rates of ischemic and bleeding events were no different in patients who changed or not changed the original nonvitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants treatment (OR, 1.2 [95% CI, 0.8-1.7]).

CONCLUSIONS:

Patients suffering a stroke despite being on nonvitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulant therapy are at high risk of recurrent ischemic stroke and bleeding. In these patients, further research is needed to improve secondary prevention by investigating the mechanisms of recurrent ischemic stroke and bleeding.

• Authors: Maurizio Paciaroni, Valeria Caso, Giancarlo Agnelli, Maria Giulia Mosconi, Michela Giustozzi, David Julian Seiffge, Stefan T Engelter, Philippe Lyrer, Alexandros A Polymeris, Lilian Kriemler, Annaelle Zietz, Jukka Putaala, Daniel Strbian, Liisa Tomppo, Patrik Michel, Davide Strambo, Alexander Salerno, Suzette Remillard, Manuela Buehrer, Odessa Bavaud, Peter Vanacker, Susanna Zuurbier, Laetitia Yperzeele, Caroline M J Loos, Manuel Cappellari, Andrea Emiliani, Marialuisa Zedde, Azmil Abdul-Rahim, Jesse Dawson, Robert Cronshaw, Erika Schirinzi, Massimo Del Sette, Christoph Stretz, Narendra Kala, Michael Reznik, Ashley Schomer, Brian Mac Grory, Mahesh Jayaraman, Ryan McTaggart, Shadi Yaghi, Karen L Furie, Luca Masotti, Elisa Grifoni, Danilo Toni, Angela Risitano, Anne Falcou, Luca Petraglia, Enrico Maria Lotti, Marina Padroni, Lucia Pavolucci, Piergiorgio Lochner, Giorgio Silvestrelli, Alfonso Ciccone, Andrea Alberti, Michele Venti, Laura Traballi, Chiara Urbini, Odysseas Kargiotis, Alessandro Rocco, Marina Diomedi, Simona Marcheselli, Pietro Caliandro, Aurelia Zauli, Giuseppe Reale, Kateryna Antonenko, Eugenia Rota, Tiziana Tassinari, Valentina Saia, Francesco Palmerini, Paolo Aridon, Valentina Arnao, Serena Monaco, Salvatore Cottone, Antonio Baldi, Cataldo D'Amore, Walter Ageno, Samuela Pegoraro, George Ntaios, Dimitrios Sagris, Sotirios Giannopoulos, Maria Kosmidou, Evangelos Ntais, Michele Romoli, Leonardo Pantoni, Silvia Rosa, Pierluigi Bertora, Alberto Chiti, Isabella Canavero, Carlo Emanuele Saggese, Maurizio Plocco, Elisa Giorli, Lina Palaiodimou, Eleni Bakola, Georgios Tsivgoulis, Fabio Bandini, Antonio Gasparro, Valeria Terruso, Marina Mannino, Alessandro Pezzini, Raffaele Ornello, Simona Sacco, Nemanja Popovic, Umberto Scoditti, Antonio Genovese, Licia Denti, Yuriy Flomin, Michelangelo Mancuso, Elena Ferrari, Maria Chiara Caselli, Leonardo Ulivi, Nicola Giannini, Gian Marco De Marchis
• Journal: Stroke (Stroke) Vol. 53 Issue 8 Pg. 2620-2627 (08 2022) ISSN: 1524-4628 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 35543133 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Multicenter Study, Observational Study)

Chemical References

• Anticoagulants

Topics

• Administration, Oral
• Anticoagulants (adverse effects)
• Atrial Fibrillation (chemically induced, complications, drug therapy)
• Brain Ischemia (chemically induced, drug therapy, epidemiology)
• Hemorrhage (chemically induced, complications, epidemiology)
• Humans
• Ischemic Stroke
• Prospective Studies
• Risk Factors
• Stroke (drug therapy, epidemiology, prevention & control)