João Pedro Ferreira, Nicolas Girerd, Saleh Alshalash, Marvin A Konstam, Faiez Zannad
Atrial fibrillation (AF) and heart failure (HF) often coexist, and patients with AF and HF have a higher risk of thromboembolic events and overall mortality compared with those with AF without HF. Additionally, the prevalence of AF increases with the severity of HF. The use of vitamin K antagonists is more unstable in patients with concomitant AF and HF, which is an independent risk factor for reduced time under therapeutic range. More recently, non-vitamin K antagonists oral anticoagulants (NOACs) have emerged as therapeutic alternatives for stroke prevention in patients with non-valvular AF, as they have been shown to be at least as efficacious and safe, with less intracranial bleeding events, compared with vitamin K antagonists...
August 2016: European Heart Journal