New Drug for Atrial Fibrillation

A new anti-clotting drug, apixaban, has recently finished clinical trials in the treatment of atrial fibrillation. It has shown to be more effective than aspirin in preventing clots from forming. Future trials will pit apixaban against the current drug of choice, warfarin, which has a number of issues with drug interactions and substantially increasing the risk of hemorrhaging. Some patients currently take aspirin over warfarin, which is less effective but has fewer side effects. The study shows that the risk of bleeding, including stroke, when taking apixaban is comparable to the low-risk seen with aspirin. Considering apixaban is a direct action Xa inhibitor like warfarin and not a COX enzyme inhibitor like aspirin, it can effectively target the same part of the coagulation cascade without substantially increasing the risk of side effects. This would provide an alternative for patients who cannot take warfarin but need a more powerful drug than aspirin.

I found this study interesting because atrial fibrillation was a recent pathology discussed in class lectures and touched on in the first round of student lectures. While time was devoted to discuss the risks associated with atrial fibrillation, we did not discuss the specific treatments to prevent clots from forming in the vessels. Innovations in biochemistry and pharmaceuticals are allowing patients with chronic arrhythmias to live longer by decreasing the risk of clots while minimizing the side effects.

http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/atrial-fibrillation/news/20110210/new-drug-helps-patients-with-atrial-fibrillation?src=RSS_PUBLIC