Rivaroxaban in the cardiovascular world: a direct anticoagulant useful to prevent stroke, and venous and arterial thromboembolism.

Rivaroxaban in the cardiovascular world: a direct anticoagulant useful to prevent stroke, and venous and arterial thromboembolism. Expert Rev Cardiovasc Ther. 2018 Jun 04;: Authors: Seoane L, Cortés M, Aris Cancela ME, Furmento J, Baranchuk A, Conde D Abstract INTRODUCTION: Until recently, vitamin K antagonists were the only drugs available for long-term anticoagulation. The use of these drugs is laborious due to their variable pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics. The advent of direct oral anticoagulants has produced a paradigm shift due to their low incidence of drug interactions, their stable plasma levels and their lack of monitoring. Rivaroxaban, a factor Xa inhibitor, has been tested in different clinical scenarios and has proved to be effective and safe, even increasing the scope of the old vitamin K antagonists. Areas covered: A non-systematic review of the literature was conducted using the Pubmed and Cochrane databases, focusing on randomized clinical trials and real-world observational studies that evaluated rivaroxaban in patients with atrial fibrillation, venous thromboembolism, and atherosclerotic coronary and peripheral vascular disease. Expert commentary: The role of rivaroxaban keeps expanding into areas that were unimaginable few years ago, in the light of solid evidence that has eliminated old strict paradigms. Nonetheless, it will be necessary to adjust costs and better understand the perceived barriers to its w...
Source: Expert Review of Cardiovascular Therapy - Category: Cardiology Tags: Expert Rev Cardiovasc Ther Source Type: research