Direct Oral Anticoagulants Compared With Warfarin in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation and Valvular Heart Disease Without Mechanical Valves

Background Despite proven efficacy and safety of direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) over warfarin in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF), data on patients with AF and valvular heart disease remain scarce. We aimed to evaluate the DOACs compared with warfarin among patients with AF and valvular he...

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Main Authors: Ghadeer K. Dawwas, James D. Lewis, Adam Cuker
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2025-02-01
Series:Journal of the American Heart Association: Cardiovascular and Cerebrovascular Disease
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Online Access:https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/JAHA.124.035478
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author Ghadeer K. Dawwas
James D. Lewis
Adam Cuker
author_facet Ghadeer K. Dawwas
James D. Lewis
Adam Cuker
author_sort Ghadeer K. Dawwas
collection DOAJ
description Background Despite proven efficacy and safety of direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) over warfarin in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF), data on patients with AF and valvular heart disease remain scarce. We aimed to evaluate the DOACs compared with warfarin among patients with AF and valvular heart disease. Methods and Results We conducted a retrospective cohort study of patients ≥18 years of age, who had AF and valvular heart disease, and were new users of DOACs or warfarin. The primary effectiveness outcomes were ischemic stroke or systemic embolism, and bleeding for safety. We used Cox proportional‐hazards regression after propensity score matching to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% CIs. In the matched cohort, DOAC use (versus warfarin) was associated with a lower rate of ischemic stroke or systemic embolism (HR, 0.70 [95% CI, 0.61–0.81]) and bleeding (HR, 0.72 [95% CI, 0.65–0.80]). We found a lower rate of ischemic stroke or systemic embolism with rivaroxaban (HR, 0.74 [95% CI, 0.62–0.89]) and apixaban (HR, 0.62 [95% CI, 0.52–0.74]) but not dabigatran (HR, 0.89 [95% CI, 0.63–1.26]). We found a lower rate of bleeding with rivaroxaban (HR, 0.84 [95% CI, 0.74–0.95]), apixaban (HR, 0.60 [95% CI, 0.53–0.68]), dabigatran (HR, 0.75 [95% CI, 0.58–0.97]), and edoxaban (HR, 0.21 [95% CI, 0.05–0.83]). We were unable to obtain estimates for the effectiveness outcome with edoxaban due to the small number of events. Conclusions In this study of patients with AF and valvular heart disease, DOAC treatment was associated with a lower risk of ischemic stroke or systemic embolism and bleeding compared with warfarin.
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spelling doaj-art-dfdf5090e6f14733bd88eee0602d64182025-08-20T03:17:27ZengWileyJournal of the American Heart Association: Cardiovascular and Cerebrovascular Disease2047-99802025-02-0114410.1161/JAHA.124.035478Direct Oral Anticoagulants Compared With Warfarin in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation and Valvular Heart Disease Without Mechanical ValvesGhadeer K. Dawwas0James D. Lewis1Adam Cuker2Department of Medicine, Division of Epidemiology Vanderbilt University School of Medicine Nashville TNCenter for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Informatics, Perelman School of Medicine University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia PADepartment of Medicine and Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia PABackground Despite proven efficacy and safety of direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) over warfarin in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF), data on patients with AF and valvular heart disease remain scarce. We aimed to evaluate the DOACs compared with warfarin among patients with AF and valvular heart disease. Methods and Results We conducted a retrospective cohort study of patients ≥18 years of age, who had AF and valvular heart disease, and were new users of DOACs or warfarin. The primary effectiveness outcomes were ischemic stroke or systemic embolism, and bleeding for safety. We used Cox proportional‐hazards regression after propensity score matching to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% CIs. In the matched cohort, DOAC use (versus warfarin) was associated with a lower rate of ischemic stroke or systemic embolism (HR, 0.70 [95% CI, 0.61–0.81]) and bleeding (HR, 0.72 [95% CI, 0.65–0.80]). We found a lower rate of ischemic stroke or systemic embolism with rivaroxaban (HR, 0.74 [95% CI, 0.62–0.89]) and apixaban (HR, 0.62 [95% CI, 0.52–0.74]) but not dabigatran (HR, 0.89 [95% CI, 0.63–1.26]). We found a lower rate of bleeding with rivaroxaban (HR, 0.84 [95% CI, 0.74–0.95]), apixaban (HR, 0.60 [95% CI, 0.53–0.68]), dabigatran (HR, 0.75 [95% CI, 0.58–0.97]), and edoxaban (HR, 0.21 [95% CI, 0.05–0.83]). We were unable to obtain estimates for the effectiveness outcome with edoxaban due to the small number of events. Conclusions In this study of patients with AF and valvular heart disease, DOAC treatment was associated with a lower risk of ischemic stroke or systemic embolism and bleeding compared with warfarin.https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/JAHA.124.035478anticoagulantsatrial fibrillationeffectivenesssafetyvalvular heart disease
spellingShingle Ghadeer K. Dawwas
James D. Lewis
Adam Cuker
Direct Oral Anticoagulants Compared With Warfarin in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation and Valvular Heart Disease Without Mechanical Valves
Journal of the American Heart Association: Cardiovascular and Cerebrovascular Disease
anticoagulants
atrial fibrillation
effectiveness
safety
valvular heart disease
title Direct Oral Anticoagulants Compared With Warfarin in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation and Valvular Heart Disease Without Mechanical Valves
title_full Direct Oral Anticoagulants Compared With Warfarin in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation and Valvular Heart Disease Without Mechanical Valves
title_fullStr Direct Oral Anticoagulants Compared With Warfarin in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation and Valvular Heart Disease Without Mechanical Valves
title_full_unstemmed Direct Oral Anticoagulants Compared With Warfarin in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation and Valvular Heart Disease Without Mechanical Valves
title_short Direct Oral Anticoagulants Compared With Warfarin in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation and Valvular Heart Disease Without Mechanical Valves
title_sort direct oral anticoagulants compared with warfarin in patients with atrial fibrillation and valvular heart disease without mechanical valves
topic anticoagulants
atrial fibrillation
effectiveness
safety
valvular heart disease
url https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/JAHA.124.035478
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