Risk of Intracranial Hemorrhage Associated With Direct Oral Anticoagulation vs Antiplatelet Therapy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Importance: For patients with atrial fibrillation, clinicians often prescribe antiplatelet therapy rather than oral anticoagulation, which may be related to a concern that direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) are associated with a higher risk of intracranial bleeding, despite being less effective for stroke prevention.

Objective: To determine whether DOAC therapy, compared with single-agent antiplatelet therapy, was associated with an increased risk of intracranial and major hemorrhage.

Data Sources: A systematic search of PubMed and Embase databases from inception to February 7, 2024, was performed.

Study Selection: Randomized clinical trials that compared DOAC therapy with single-agent antiplatelet therapies were included. Trials with active follow-up of less than 30 days or a sample size less than 200 were excluded.

Data Extraction And Synthesis: The study followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses reporting guideline. Data were extracted independently by 2 researchers. A random-effects meta-analysis model was used to report pooled treatment effects and 95% CIs.

Main Outcomes And Measures: The primary outcome was occurrence of intracranial hemorrhage.

Results: A total of 9 randomized clinical trials were included (45 494 participants). DOAC therapy was not associated with significantly higher odds of intracranial hemorrhage compared with antiplatelet therapy (0.55% vs 0.48% over a mean trial follow-up of 17.1 months; odds ratio [OR], 1.15; 95% CI, 0.71-1.88), but there was heterogeneity among trials (I2 = 53.7%). In an analysis by DOAC agent, the respective estimates for intracranial hemorrhage risk were as follows: rivaroxaban, OR, 2.09 (95% CI, 1.20-3.64); dabigatran, OR, 1.00 (95% CI, 0.61-1.64); and apixaban, OR, 0.72 (95% CI, 0.44-1.17). Overall, DOAC therapy was associated with higher odds of major hemorrhage compared with antiplatelet therapy (2.41% vs 1.76% over a mean trial follow-up of 15.5 months; OR, 1.39; 95% CI, 1.07-1.80), with the following estimates by agent: rivaroxaban, OR, 1.91 (95% CI, 1.22-3.00); dabigatran; OR, 1.21 (95% CI, 0.86-1.69); and apixaban, OR, 1.09 (95% CI, 0.73-1.63).

Conclusions And Relevance: In this systematic review and meta-analysis, DOAC therapy was not associated with a significantly higher risk of intracranial hemorrhage compared with antiplatelet therapy, but was associated with a higher risk of major hemorrhage. These findings support the safety of DOAC compared with antiplatelet therapy with respect to risk of ICH and reinforce adherence with current atrial fibrillation guidelines.