A single centre experience of the efficacy and safety of dabigatran etexilate used for stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation

The use of novel anticoagulants such as dabigatran are increasing. Despite increased risks of intracerebral haemorrhage with warfarin among Asians, there is little published data on dabigatran to assess ‘real world’ efficacy and safety of dabigatran therapy in Asia. This was a retrospective observational study of patients prescribed dabigatran between 2010 and 2013. Data was available for 510 patients: median age 68 years (range 20–91), median CHA2DS2-VASc score was 2 and median HAS-BLED score was 2. The average follow-up duration of 315 days (range: 1–1,096). The overall discontinuation rate was 16 % after a median 252 days of treatment with dabigatran. There were 17 (3.3 %) patients with minor bleeding, 2 (0.4 %) had major bleeding episodes. 20 patients (3.9 %) developed dyspepsia which was the most common side effect. The rate of occurrences of adverse effects and bleeding were lower than those seen in the RE-LY trial. None of the patients had an ischaemic stroke, 1 (0.2 %) patient had a haemorrhagic stroke. Out of 510 patients, 158 patients (31 %) were switched to dabigatran from warfarin. This showed that patients frequently preferred the dabigatran due to convenience when given a choice to switch from warfarin. We report one of the largest registry of Asian patients. Reassuringly, we found that our cohort had a low rate of rate of ischaemic stroke, low rates of side effects and bleeding with the drug.