Author Interviews, BMJ, Clots - Coagulation, Heart Disease / 07.07.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Yana Vinogradova, PhD, Research Fellow Division of Primary Care, School of Medicine University of Nottingham Nottingham MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Anticoagulants are prescribed for treatment and prevention of thrombosis and stroke but may lead to major bleeding.  Unlike the older drug warfarin, newer direct oral anticoagulants do not require regular blood tests but their safety was shown only in selected patients and in trial conditions. The study found that Direct Oral AntiCoagulants (DOACs) are safer than warfarin in terms of bleeding risks with apixaban being the safest.  (more…)
Author Interviews, Heart Disease, NEJM, Stroke, Surgical Research / 13.09.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Prof. Jean-Louis MAS Université Paris Descartes INSERM UMR S 894 Service de Neurologie et Unité Neurovasculaire Hôpital Sainte-Anne Paris  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Stroke is a major cause of death, disability and dementia affecting 17 million people each year worldwide. About 80% of strokes are ischemic strokes due to occlusion of a cerebral artery by a thrombus, itself the consequence of various arterial or heart diseases. In 30 to 40% of cases, no definite cause of ischemic stroke can be identified. Cryptogenic stroke is the term used to refer to these strokes of unknown etiology. The patent foramen ovale (PFO) is a defect between the upper two heart chambers (called atria) though which a thrombus of venous origin may reach the systemic circulation and cause a stroke. This mechanism is called paradoxical embolism. Several case-control studies have shown an association between PFO and cryptogenic ischemic stroke, particularly in patients less than 60 years old, in those who have an atrial septal aneurysm (defined as an abnormal protrusion of the interatrial septum in the right or the left atrium or both) in addition to a PFO, and in those who have a PFO with a large right-to-left shunt. These findings suggested that a PFO might be responsible for stroke and that PFO closure with a device may decrease the risk of stroke recurrence. However, the causative relationship between PFO and stroke and the best strategy to prevent stroke recurrence have long been a hot topic of debate. Three previous randomized clinical trials failed to demonstrate any superiority of PFO closure over antithrombotic therapy. (more…)
Author Interviews, Heart Disease / 28.07.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Tom Marshall, MSc, PhD, MRGP, FFPH Professor of public health and primary care Institute of Applied Health Research University of Birmingham Birmingham UK  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: It is widely recognised that anticoagulants are underused in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) although they are effective in reducing risk of stroke. We investigated whether this could be explained by the fact that many AF patients have conditions which are considered relative contraindications to their use. We analysed electronic medical records from 645 general practices from 2004 to 2015 and included over 1 million patients with AF. We found that about 6% of AF patients had are relative contraindications such as recent history of major bleeding. In each of the 12 years, similar numbers of patients with and without contraindications were prescribed anticoagulants. (more…)
Author Interviews, Boehringer Ingelheim, Cost of Health Care, Heart Disease / 12.06.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Sabine Luik, M.D. Senior vice president, Medicine & Regulatory Affairs Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc. MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: This study is the first real-world, matched head-to-head study comparing all cause healthcare costs and healthcare resource utilization (HCRU) among novel oral anticoagulants (NOACs). The study analyzed claims data from 70,898 newly-diagnosed NVAF patients who were newly treated with Pradaxa, rivaroxaban or apixaban. The analysis found that Pradaxa was associated with lower all-cause costs and HCRU compared to rivaroxaban. Compared to apixaban, Pradaxa was associated with similar all-cause costs and hospitalizations, but higher all-cause outpatient and pharmacy HCRU. (more…)
Author Interviews, Heart Disease, Surgical Research / 05.05.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Nayan Agarwal MD Intervention Cardiology Fellow, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Long term anticoagulation is indicated in patients with mechanical heart valves, prior thromboembolic events, atrial fibrillation etc, to prevent recurrent thrombo-embolic episodes. About 20-30% of these patients also have concomitant ischemic heart disease requiring percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Post PCI, patients require treatment with dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) with aspirin and a P2Y12 inhibitor (clopidogrel, prasugrel, ticagrelor) to prevent stent thrombosis. Thus, these patients may end up needing triple antithrombotic therapy with oral anticoagulant (OAC) and DAPT, which increases the bleeding risk. Both American College of Cardiology(ACC) and European Society of Cardiology (ESC), currently recommend triple therapy in these patients. Recently new evidence has emerged that such patients can be managed with dual therapy of a single antiplatelet (SAPT) and OAC. Hence, we decided to do a systematic review of these studies to evaluate safety and efficacy of dual therapy of SAPT and OAC against triple therapy of DAPT and OAC. (more…)
AHA Journals, Author Interviews, Heart Disease, Pharmacology / 06.10.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Xiaoxi Yao, PhD, MPH, MS Robert D. and Patricia E. Kern Center for the Science of Health Care Delivery Mayo Clinic Rochester, MN MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common arrhythmia requiring treatment, affecting 3-6 million Americans. AF is associated with a 5 fold risk of stroke, which can be substantially reduced by oral anticoagulants. For over a half century, warfarin was the only option for long-term oral anticoagulation in the U.S., but the use of warfarin can be cumbersome. Warfarin has numerous interactions with food and other drugs, and requires regular lab testing and dose adjustment. Since 2010, four non–vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants (NOACs) have been approved by the FDA. In comparison to warfarin, the fixed-dosage NOACs provide more convenient therapeutic options and demonstrated at least equivalent efficacy and safety in large phase III clinical trials. However, the outcomes achieved in idealized clinical trial settings may not necessarily translate to routine clinical practice. In this large cohort of patients with nonvalvular AF, we assessed the real-world effectiveness and safety of three NOACs (dabigatran, rivaroxaban, and apixaban), comparing each agent with warfarin. We found apixaban was associated with lower risks of both stroke and major bleeding, dabigatran was associated with similar risk of stroke but lower risk of major bleeding, and rivaroxaban was associated with similar risks of both stroke and major bleeding in comparison to warfarin. (more…)
Author Interviews, JAMA, Thromboembolism / 17.09.2014

Dr. Marc Carrier, MD MSc Scientist, Clinical Epidemiology, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute Physician, Hematology (Thrombosis), The Ottawa Hospital Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, and Research Chair in Venous Thromboembolism and Cancer (Tier 2) at the University of OttawaMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Marc Carrier, MD MSc Scientist, Clinical Epidemiology, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute Physician, Hematology, The Ottawa Hospital Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, and Research Chair in Venous Thromboembolism and Cancer (Tier 2) at the University of Ottawa MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of this study? Dr. Carrier: Venous thromboembolism (VTE), comprised of deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism, is the third leading cause of cardiovascular death. There are many anticoagulant treatments available but there is little guidance about which treatment is most effective and safe. This systematic review and network meta-analysis evaluated eight different treatment options for acute Venous thromboembolism.  Forty-five trials were included in the analysis and there were no significant differences in clinical or safety outcomes associated with most treatment options when compared to the combination of LMWH-VKA.. (more…)