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Antithrombotic treatment management in low stroke risk patients undergoing cardioversion of atrial fibrillation <48 h duration: results of an EHRA survey

Migliore, Federico; Providencia, Rui; Farkowski, Michal M; Dan, Georghe Andrei; Daniel, Scherr; Potpara, Tatjana S; Jubele, Kristine; ... Boveda, Serge; + view all (2021) Antithrombotic treatment management in low stroke risk patients undergoing cardioversion of atrial fibrillation <48 h duration: results of an EHRA survey. EP Europace , 23 (9) pp. 1502-1507. 10.1093/europace/euab106. Green open access

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Abstract

Data supporting the safety of cardioversion (CV) of atrial fibrillation (AF) without anticoagulation in patients with AF duration <48 h are scarce. Observational studies suggest that the risk of stroke in these patients is very low when the definite duration of the AF episode is of <48 h and the clinical risk profile as estimated through the CHA2DS2VASc score is low (a score of 0 for men and 1 for women). As the recent 2020 European Society of Cardiology (ESC) guidelines indication for this clinical scenario is based mainly on consensus, we sent out a survey to assess the current clinical practice on anticoagulation prior to and post-CV in patients with AF <24-48 h duration and low stroke risk across centres in Europe. Of the 136 respondents, half were affiliated to university hospitals (68/136; 50%). Non-university hospitals (50/136; 36%) and private hospitals (2/136; 1.4%) accounted over a third of respondents. The main findings of our survey were (i) heterogeneity in the anticoagulation management both before and post-CV in low stroke-risk patients with AF <48 h, (ii) higher utilization of periprocedural low-molecular-weight heparin than of non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulant, (iii) higher utilization of pre-CV transoesophageal echocardiography for electrical CV than for pharmacological CV regardless of the duration of AF, (iv) high adherence to a 4-week post-CV oral anticoagulant (OAC) therapy, mainly for electrical CV, and finally, (v) perceived higher acceptance of lack of post-CV OAC therapy in patients with <24 h than 24-48 h episode duration. The results obtained in this survey highlight the need for more research providing definitive clarification on the safety of CV without anticoagulation in patients with short duration AF.

Type: Article
Title: Antithrombotic treatment management in low stroke risk patients undergoing cardioversion of atrial fibrillation <48 h duration: results of an EHRA survey
Location: England
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1093/europace/euab106
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1093/europace/euab106
Language: English
Additional information: This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions.
Keywords: Anticoagulation, Atrial fibrillation, Cardioversion, EHRA survey, Low stroke risk, Non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants, Vitamin K antagonist
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute of Health Informatics
URI: https://discovery-pp.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10160284
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