Anticoagulant therapy in patients with atrial fibrillation and concomitant chronic kidney disease: the results of a prospective study

• Published in: Medicinskij sovet no. 5; pp. 14 - 19
• Main Authors: Daabul, I. S., Sokolova, A. A., Tsarev, I. L., Napalkov, D. A., Fomin, V. V.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English; Russian
• Published: Remedium Group LLC 04-04-2019
• Subjects: apixaban; atrial fibrillation (af); chronic kidney disease (ckd); dabigatran; direct oral anticoagulants (doacs); rivaroxaban; vitamin k antagonists (vka); warfarin
• ISSN: 2079-701X; 2658-5790
• DOI: 10.21518/2079-701X-2019-5-14-19

In recent years, both Russian and foreign authors have published many papers on anticoagulant therapy for atrial fibrillation (AF). The largest are devoted to the study of direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs), which have appeared in this field since 2009, and their comparison with vitamin K antagonists (VKAs) in terms of efficacy, safety and other important characteristics. There are far fewer studies on DOACs and their comparison with VKAs and with each other in patients with AF and reduced kidney function. Most of them are retrospective. Meanwhile, the prevalence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in the population is very high, and doctors are faced with a problem of selecting anticoagulant therapy for these patients.
Purpose. To assess the effect of VKAs and DOACs on renal function in real clinical practice in patients with AF depending on the stage of CKD.
Materials and methods. A prospective single-centre non-randomized non-interventional observational study in parallel groups was conducted. The study included 92 patients with AF and CKD of 1-4 stages (S1-S4). The comparison group consisted of 35 patients with AF without concomitant CKD. The patients’ age ranged from 44 to 94 years (mean age was 72.2 ± 8.5 years). Patients of both groups received anticoagulant therapy with VKA (warfarin) or one of the registered in the Russian Federation DOACs (dabigatran, rivaroxaban, apixaban). During the observation (median was 10 months), follow-up visits were every 3 months. On visits we conducted the evaluation of effectiveness (strokes / TIA and thromboembolic complications) and safety (major and minor hemorrhagic events) of anticoagulant therapy, as well as the dynamics of kidney function (CC by Cockroft-Gault, GFR by CKD-EPI).
Results. The main results are devoted to patients with AF and concomitant CKD. Significant dynamics of the kidney function depending on the anticoagulant taken (VKA or representatives of the DOACs class) were not identified. There were not any thromboembolic complications and major bleedings during the observation period. Statistically significant more minor bleedings on any dose of rivaroxaban in comparison with other anticoagulants were identified.
Conclusions. In patients with AF and CKD, there was no significant effect of one or another anticoagulant on the kidney function, which is probably related to the concomitant nephroprotective therapy obtained in a large percentage of cases (ACE inhibitors / ARA, calcium antagonists, statins). Therapy with DOACs and warfarin in patients with AF and CKD for an average of 10 months of followup was effective and safe. In case of AF and CKD combination, the use of dabigatran or apixaban seems to be more preferable in relation to minor bleedings, the use of which less often leads to the development of hemorrhagic events.