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TUESDAY, March 10, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Among adults with atrial fibrillation, the rates for ischemic stroke or systemic embolism and bleeding are lower with apixaban compared with rivaroxaban, according to a study published online March 10 in the Annals of Internal Medicine<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Michael Fralick, M.D., Ph.D., from Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, and colleagues compared the safety and effectiveness of apixaban versus rivaroxaban for patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation. A total of 39,351 patients newly prescribed apixaban were propensity score-matched with 39,351 patients who were newly prescribed rivaroxaban; patients were followed for a mean of 288 and 291 days, respectively.<\/p>\n
The researchers found that the incidence rate of ischemic stroke or systemic embolism was 6.6 and 8.0 per 1,000 person-years for those prescribed apixaban and rivaroxaban, respectively (hazard ratio, 0.82). Compared with those prescribed rivaroxaban, those prescribed apixaban had a lower rate of gastrointestinal bleeding or intracranial hemorrhage (12.9 versus 21.9 per 1,000 person-years; hazard ratio, 0.58).<\/p>\n
“Apixaban may be safer and more effective than rivaroxaban for treating nonvalvular atrial fibrillation,” the authors write. “Until head-to-head clinical trial data are available, the results of our study, which included a large sample of patients seen in routine care, [provide] updated evidence in support of apixaban for treating nonvalvular atrial fibrillation.”<\/p>\n
Several authors disclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry.<\/p>\n
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