Efficacy and safety of non-vitamin K anticoagulants and warfarin in patients with atrial fibrillation and heart failure: A network meta-analysis.

Background: To recommend the proper anticoagulant drug and its dose for patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) and heart failure (HF), we conducted a network meta-analysis (NMA) to make the comparisons among non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants (NOACs) and warfarin with regard to efficacy (stroke or systemic embolism) and safety (major bleeding).

Methods: We searched PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science and Cochrane Library with the items: "dabigatran, edoxaban, apixaban, rivaroxaban, warfarin, atrial fibrillation and heart failure" through April 14, 2020, focusing on the RCTs comparing the effect of NOACs to warfarin in patients with AF and HF. The NMA was performed based on R (version3.