Dabigatran increased bleeding, embolic complications during AF ablation

CardiologyToday.com February 14, 2012. Lakkireddy D. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2012;doi:10.1016/j.jacc.2011.12.014.

Patients who continued the use of dabigatran during the periprocedural period of atrial fibrillation ablation had increased risks for bleeding and composite of bleeding or embolic complications compared with patients on uninterrupted warfarin therapy.

In an observational study performed at eight high-volume centers from January 2010 to July 2011, researchers enrolled 145 patients assigned 150 mg dabigatran etexilate (Pradaxa, Boehringer Ingelheim) twice daily for at least 30 days before AF ablation and 145 matched patients assigned uninterrupted periprocedural warfarin. The mean age of all patients was 60 years. Seventy-nine percent were men and 57% had paroxysmal AF.

Overall, 2.1% of patients assigned dabigatran experienced thromboembolic complications vs. none in the warfarin group (P=.25). Study results also showed a significantly higher major bleeding rate (6% vs. 1%; P=.019), total bleeding rate (14% vs. 6%; P=.031) and composite of bleeding and thromboembolic complications (16% vs. 6%; P=.009) in the dabigatran group. Read Full Article