Vitamin K

Rivaroxaban Versus Vitamin K Antagonist in Antiphospholipid Syndrome: A Randomized Noninferiority Trial

Author/s: 
Ordi-Ros, J, Sáez-Comet, L., Pérez-Conesa, M., Vidal, X., Riera-Mestre, A., Castro-Salomó, A., Cuquet-Pedragosa, J., Ortiz-Santamaria, V., Mauri-Plana, M., Solé, C., Cortés-Hernández, J.

BACKGROUND:

The potential role of new oral anticoagulants in antiphospholipid antibody syndrome (APS) remains uncertain.

OBJECTIVE:

To determine whether rivaroxaban is noninferior to dose-adjusted vitamin K antagonists (VKAs) for thrombotic APS.

DESIGN:

3-year, open-label, randomized noninferiority trial. (EU Clinical Trials Register: EUDRA [European Union Drug Regulatory Authorities] code 2010-019764-36).

SETTING:

6 university hospitals in Spain.

PARTICIPANTS:

190 adults (aged 18 to 75 years) with thrombotic APS.

INTERVENTION:

Rivaroxaban (20 mg/d or 15 mg/d, according to renal function) versus dose-adjusted VKAs (target international normalized ratio, 2.0 to 3.0, or 3.1 to 4.0 in patients with a history of recurrent thrombosis).

MEASUREMENTS:

The primary efficacy outcome was the proportion of patients with new thrombotic events; the primary safety outcome was major bleeding. The prespecified noninferiority margin for risk ratio (RR) was 1.40. Secondary outcomes included time to thrombosis, type of thrombosis, changes in biomarker levels, cardiovascular death, and nonmajor bleeding.

RESULTS:

After 3 years of follow-up, recurrent thrombosis occurred in 11 patients (11.6%) in the rivaroxaban group and 6 (6.3%) in the VKA group (RR in the rivaroxaban group, 1.83 [95% CI, 0.71 to 4.76]). Stroke occurred more commonly in patients receiving rivaroxaban (9 events) than in those receiving VKAs (0 events) (corrected RR, 19.00 [CI, 1.12 to 321.9]). Major bleeding occurred in 6 patients (6.3%) in the rivaroxaban group and 7 (7.4%) in the VKA group (RR, 0.86 [CI, 0.30 to 2.46]). Post hoc analysis suggested an increased risk for recurrent thrombosis in rivaroxaban-treated patients with previous arterial thrombosis, livedo racemosa, or APS-related cardiac valvular disease.

LIMITATION:

Anticoagulation intensity was not measured in the rivaroxaban group.

CONCLUSION:

Rivaroxaban did not show noninferiority to dose-adjusted VKAs for thrombotic APS and, in fact, showed a non-statistically significant near doubling of the risk for recurrent thrombosis.

PRIMARY FUNDING SOURCE:

Bayer Hispania.

Periprocedural Bridging in Patients with Venous Thromboembolism: A Systematic Review

Author/s: 
Baumgartner, C., de Kouchkovsky, I., Whitaker, E., Fang, M.C.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Vitamin K antagonists (VKA) are the most widely used anticoagulants, and bridging is commonly administered during periprocedural VKA interruption. Given the unclear benefits and risks of periprocedural bridging in patients with previous venousthromboembolism, we aimed to assess recurrent venous thromboembolism and bleeding outcomes with and without bridging in this population.

METHODS:

We performed a systematic review searching the PubMed and Embase databases from inception to December 7, 2017 for randomized and nonrandomized studies that included adults with previous venous thromboembolism requiring VKA interruption to undergo an elective procedure, and that reported venous thromboembolism or bleeding outcomes. Quality of evidence was graded by consensus.

RESULTS:

We included 28 cohort studies (20 being single-arm cohorts) with, overall, 6915 procedures for analysis. In 27 studies reporting perioperative venous thromboembolism outcomes, the pooled incidence of recurrent venous thromboembolism with bridging was 0.7% (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.4%-1.2%) and 0.5% (95% CI, 0.3%-0.8%) without bridging. Eighteen studies reported major or nonmajor bleeding outcomes. The pooled incidence of any bleeding was 3.9% (95% CI, 2.0%-7.4%) with bridging and 0.4% (95% CI, 0.1%-1.7%) without bridging. In bridged patients at high thromboembolic risk, the pooled incidence for venous thromboembolism was 0.8% (95% CI, 0.3%-2.5%) and 7.5% (95% CI, 3.1%-17.4%) for any bleeding. Quality of available evidence was very low, primarily due to a high risk of bias of included studies.

CONCLUSIONS:

Periprocedural bridging increases the risk of bleeding compared with VKA interruption without bridging, without a significant difference in periprocedural venous thromboembolism rates.

Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

KEYWORDS:

Anticoagulants; Bleeding; Bridging; PROSPERO; Periprocedural; Venous thromboembolism; registration number CRD42017074710

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