Apixaban Superior to Warfarin Across Range of Patient Risk Scores, Study Finds

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http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/10/121001191533.htm

ScienceDaily (Oct. 2, 2012) — A new anticoagulant called apixaban is superior to warfarin in preventing stroke with consistent effects across a wide range of stroke and bleeding risk in patients with atrial fibrillation, according to Duke University Medical Center researchers.

Their results, published online today in The Lancet, suggest that the current risk scoring systems for tailoring anticoagulation treatment to individual patients may be less relevant when using apixaban for patients with atrial fibrillation who have at least one risk factor for stroke.

"The benefits of apixaban are preserved regardless of the risk score used and regardless of the patient risk category," said Renato Lopes, M.D., a Duke cardiologist and the lead author of the study. Importantly, apixaban was safer than warfarin in the overall population and tended to cause less intracranial bleeding in those patients whose risk scores defined them as being at the highest risk of bleeding.

"With new oral anticoagulants, such as apixaban, we might not need risk scores to guide treatment decisions for stroke prevention in patients with atrial fibrillation. This may simplify how physicians make decisions and also improve patient care," Lopes said.