New Oral Anticoagulants for Atrial Fibrillation: A Review of Clinical Trials

Science Direct: Kate M. O’Dell, PharmD, BCPS,  March 12, 2012.

Background

Warfarin had been the only oral anticoagulant for stroke prevention in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) for decades. Direct thrombin inhibitors and factor Xa inhibitors are new anticoagulants recently approved for prevention of stroke or systemic embolism in patients with AF.

Objective

The aim of this article was to provide a systematic review of recently published clinical data on the direct thrombin inhibitors and factor Xa inhibitors in the management of AF.

Methods

A search of the ClinicalTrials.gov registry was conducted using the subject terms dabigatran, rivaroxaban, and apixaban. Each search was limited to clinical trials that included patients with AF. Completed studies with warfarin as the main comparator were identified. From the yielded results, the national clinical trial identifier was inputted in PubMed (1966–November 2011) for a search of published literature. Read More