Increased creatinine levels and low weight may increase bleeding risk in AF patients on oral coagulants
Findings from a recent study has demonstrated an association between higher baseline serum creatinine, elevated HASBLED score, and lower weight, with an increased risk of bleeding in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) or atrial flutter (AFL) receiving a DOAC. These findings add to prescribing considerations when initiating DOACs,further suggesting that closer monitoring is advised for patients with significant renal dysfunction and/or low body weight, even with renal dose adjustments.
Atrial fibrillation (AF) increases the risk of stroke and direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) are first-line agents for prevention. Gaps in the literature cause reluctance in prescribing DOACs for patients with renal dysfunction and/or extremes in body weight. Worldwide obesity has reached pandemic proportions with more than 1.9 billion adults classed as overweight in 2016, of which 650 million were obese. Since it is a major modifiable risk factor for so many cardiovascular diseases, it is no surprise there has been an exponential increase in cases of AF coinciding with the rise in obesity. While there were an estimated 8.8 million cases of AF in 2010 in Europe alone, by 2060, this is estimated to rise to 17.9 million. Moreover, obesity is now the second biggest attributable risk factor for AF after hypertension. Together with overweight, it accounted for 17.9% of all AF cases in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study.
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