All articles tagged with #apixaban
A NEJM trial comparing apixaban (Eliquis) and rivaroxaban (Xarelto) found Eliquis had a lower risk of clinically relevant bleeding in patients with venous thromboembolism, with similar efficacy in preventing recurrent clots; however, results may not generalize beyond a largely white, healthy population, suggesting Eliquis could be a safer first-line option for many patients.
COBRRA (2760 patients, 3 months) shows apixaban reduces clinically relevant bleeding vs rivaroxaban in acute VTE (3.3% vs 7.1%), with major and clinically relevant nonmajor bleeding also lower (0.4% vs 2.4%; 2.9% vs 4.9%), while recurrent symptomatic VTE is similar (~1%). The safety edge could shift guidelines and insurer preference toward apixaban, though the study’s short follow-up and predominantly White population are limitations; a COBRA-AF trial in atrial fibrillation is planned.
A randomized clinical trial of 1015 patients with cryptogenic stroke and evidence of atrial cardiopathy found that the rate of recurrent stroke did not significantly differ between the apixaban group and the aspirin group. The trial was stopped for futility after a planned interim analysis, concluding that in patients with cryptogenic stroke and evidence of atrial cardiopathy without atrial fibrillation, apixaban did not significantly reduce recurrent stroke risk compared with aspirin. Atrial cardiopathy, associated with stroke in the absence of clinically apparent atrial fibrillation, remains a challenge for stroke prevention.