Background: Effective and safe anticoagulative therapy needs close co-operation between doctor and patient, the latter being well-informed. The aim of the study was to assess knowledge of oral anticoagulation in a group of patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) treated with acenocoumarol and to determine the relationship between knowledge and INR value.
Method: The study group consisted of patients with AF who were continuously using anticoagulative therapy and who were admitted to hospital (for different reasons). The questionnaire comprised questions about their knowledge of various aspects of the treatment used. In the assessment of knowledge a numerical scale was introduced (0-9 points) and the patients were given one point for each correct answer.
Results: The study group consisted of 61 patients aged 46-91 (mean 70.18). The level of knowledge of oral anticoagulation among the group of patients examined was low (the mean number of points achieved was 4.19 in the 9-point scale). Sex, education and the reason for admission had no relationship with the level of knowledge. Younger patients (4.85 +/- 1.94 vs. 3.56 +/- 1.86, p = 0.01) and those who had INR within the therapeutic limits at the moment of admission to the hospital (5.50 +/- 1.79 vs. 3.56 +/- 1.79 points, p = 0.0003) had a higher level of knowledge of the antithrombotic treatment.
Conclusions: Knowledge of treatment with acenocoumarol among the patients with atrial fibrillation using oral anticoagulation is low and inversely correlated with age. The greater the knowledge, the better is the value of INR controlled. (Cardiol J 2007; 14: 44-49).
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N Engl J Med
January 2025
From the TIMI Study Group, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston (C.T.R., S.M.P., R.P.G., D.A.M., J.F.K., E.L.G., S.A.M., S.D.W., M.S.S.); Anthos Therapeutics, Cambridge, MA (B.H., S.P., D.B.); the Heart Rhythm Center, Taipei Veterans General Hospital and Cardiovascular Center, Taipei, Taiwan (S.-A.C.); Taichung Veterans Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan (S.-A.C.); National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu, Taiwan (S.-A.C.); National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan (S.-A.C.); St. Michael's Hospital, Unity Health Toronto, Peter Munk Cardiac Centre, University Health Network, University of Toronto, Toronto (S.G.G.); Canadian VIGOUR Centre, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada (S.G.G.); the Division of Cardiology, Severance Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea (B.J.); the Department of Cardiology, Central Hospital of Northern Pest-Military Hospital, Budapest, Hungary (R.G.K.); the Heart and Vascular Center, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary (R.G.K.); the Internal Cardiology Department, St. Ann University Hospital and Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic (J.S.); the Department of Cardiology and Structural Heart Diseases, Medical University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland (W.W.); the Departments of Medicine and of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada (J.W.); and the Thrombosis and Atherosclerosis Research Institute, Hamilton, ON, Canada (J.W.).
Background: Abelacimab is a fully human monoclonal antibody that binds to the inactive form of factor XI and blocks its activation. The safety of abelacimab as compared with a direct oral anticoagulant in patients with atrial fibrillation is unknown.
Methods: Patients with atrial fibrillation and a moderate-to-high risk of stroke were randomly assigned, in a 1:1:1 ratio, to receive subcutaneous injection of abelacimab (150 mg or 90 mg once monthly) administered in a blinded fashion or oral rivaroxaban (20 mg once daily) administered in an open-label fashion.
PLoS One
January 2025
Pfizer Ltd., Tadworth, United Kingdom.
Background: Risk factors and comorbidities can complicate management of non-valvular atrial fibrillation. We describe and compare real-world safety and effectiveness of direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs; apixaban, rivaroxaban, dabigatran) and vitamin K antagonists (VKAs) in subgroups of patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation at high risk for gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding, utilizing data from a national quasi-exhaustive French database.
Methods: Anticoagulant-naïve adults with non-valvular atrial fibrillation with ≥1 gastrointestinal bleeding risk factor, initiating anticoagulant treatment January 2016-December 2019, and covered by the French national health data system were eligible.
Multimed Man Cardiothorac Surg
January 2025
• Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, Australia • Department of Paediatrics, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia • Heart Research Group, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia.
Patients with secundum atrial septal defects preferentially undergo device closure; however, this procedure is not always feasible. Instead, patients can safely undergo surgical closure. At a time when minimally invasive surgery can now be utilized with improved cosmetic results and the same excellent outcomes as a conventional sternotomy for an atrial septal defect closure, we propose the partial lower ministernotomy as the new standard for surgical atrial septal defect closure.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAnn Noninvasive Electrocardiol
January 2025
Cardiovascular Analytics Group, Islamabad, Pakistan.
Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is a safe and effective treatment for patients experiencing ventricular and atrial tachyarrhythmias. While complications after RFA are generally rare, the occurrence of coronary artery (CA) injury, albeit infrequent, can have significant clinical implications. Given the proximity of CAs to common ablation sites, understanding the interplay between RFA and CA perfusion pathophysiology is paramount.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCirc Genom Precis Med
January 2025
Department of Cardiology, Cardiovascular Research Institute Maastricht, Maastricht University, the Netherlands (S.L.V.M.S., N.J.B., M.F.G.H.M.V., V.P.M.v.E., J.A.J.V.).
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