Safety and Efficacy of Uninterrupted Apixaban Therapy Versus Warfarin During Atrial Fibrillation Ablation

Thromboembolic cerebrovascular accident remains a rare but potentially devastating complication of catheter based atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation. Uninterrupted oral anticoagulant (OAC) therapy with warfarin has become the standard of care when performing catheter based AF ablation. Compared with warfarin, apixaban, a factor Xa inhibitor, has been shown to reduce the risk of stroke and major bleeding in non-valvular AF. With an increase in apixaban use for stroke prophylaxis in AF patients there is an increased interest in the safety and efficacy of uninterrupted apixaban therapy during AF ablation.

Source: The American Journal of Cardiology - May 10, 2017 Category: Cardiology Authors: Ruchit R. Shah, Ajay Pillai, Pascha Schafer, David Meggo, Tom McElderry, Vance Plumb, Takumi Yamada, Vineet Kumar, Harish Doppalapudi, Alicia Gunter, Emily Pentecost, William R. Maddox Source Type: research