Tag Archives: TOPCAT

ENGAGE AF-TIMI 48: success for edoxaban in AF The new factor Xa inhibitor, edoxaban (Daiichi-Sankyo), was as effective in preventing strokes and safer than warfarin in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) in the ENGAGE AF-TIMI 48 trial. The ENGAGE AF-TIMI 48 (Effective AnticoaGulation with Factor XA Next Generation in Atrial Fibrillation – Thrombolysis In Myocardial Infarction 48) trial included more than 21,000 AF patients from 46 countries who were randomised to edoxaban at one of two doses (60 mg or 30 mg per day) or warfarin. Results (table 1) showed that both edoxaban doses were associated with significantly less major bleeding than

Counting the cost of acute heart failure In the first keynote lecture, Professor John McMurray (BHF Cardiovascular Research Centre, Glasgow) began by addressing the definition of acute heart failure (HF). He felt the term ‘acute’ was unhelpful, as it can be applied to a broad spectrum of clinical presentation, from the rapid onset of acute pulmonary oedema, to the subacute deterioration in chronic HF symptoms (predominantly peripheral oedema) that culminates in hospitalisation. Accordingly, the new 2013 American College of Cardiology Foundation (ACCF)/American Heart Association (AHA) HF guidelines refer to ‘the hospitalised patient’,