Ticagrelor vs. clopidogrel post-ACS was associated with a lower risk of death, MI, or stroke, as well as death alone. Risk of bleeding was higher with ticagrelor. These real-world outcomes are consistent with randomized trial results.

Well-managed warfarin therapy is associated with a low risk of complications and is still a valid alternative for prophylaxis of AF-associated stroke. Therapy should be closely monitored for patients with renal failure, concomitant aspirin use, and poor INR control.

No abstract

Aims  Clinical trials have demonstrated that a reduction in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) reduces cardiovascular (CV) events. This has, however, not yet been shown in a real-world setting. We aimed to investigate the association between LDL-C changes and statin intensity with prognosis after a myocardial infarction (MI). Methods and results  Patients admitted with MI were followed for mortality and major CV events. Changes in LDL-C between the MI and a 6- to 10-week follow-up visit were analysed. The associations between quartiles of LDL-C change and statin intensity with outcomes were assessed using adjusted Cox regression analyses. A total of 40 607 patients were followed for a median of 3.78 years. The median change in LDL-C was a 1.20 mmol/L reduction. Patients with larger LDL-C reduction (1.85 mmol/L, 75th percentile) compared with a smaller reduction (0.36 mmol/L, 25th percentile) had lower hazard ratios (HR) for all outcomes (95% confidence interval): composite of CV mortality, MI, and ischaemic stroke 0.77 (0.70–0.84); all-cause mortality 0.71 (0.63–0.80); CV mortality 0.68 (0.57–0.81); MI 0.81 (0.73–0.91); ischaemic stroke 0.76 (0.62–0.93); heart failure hospitalization 0.73 (0.63–0.85), and coronary artery revascularization 0.86 (0.79–0.94). Patients with ≥50% LDL-C reduction using high-intensity statins at discharge had a lower incidence of all outcomes compared with those using a lower intensity statin. Conclusions  Larger early LDL-C reduction and more intensive statin therapy after MI were associated with a reduced hazard of all CV outcomes and all-cause mortality. This supports clinical trial data suggesting that earlier lowering of LDL-C after an MI confers the greatest benefit.

URLs: http://www.ClinicalTrials.gov http://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/. Unique identifiers: NCT02552407 and CRD42015025936.

No abstract

Objectives To study the impact of time in therapeutic range (TTR) and international normalised ratio (INR) variability on the risk of thromboembolic events, major bleeding complications and death after mechanical heart valve (MHV) implantation. Additionally, the importance of different target INR levels was elucidated.

The safety and efficacy of warfarin in a large, unselected cohort of warfarin-treated patients with high quality of care is comparable to that reported for non-vitamin K antagonists. Warfarin is commonly used for stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation, as well as for treatment and prevention of venous thromboembolism. While reducing risk of thrombotic/embolic incidents, warfarin increases the risk of bleeding. The aim of this study was to elucidate risks of bleeding and thromboembolism for patients on warfarin treatment in a large, unselected cohort with rigorously controlled treatment. This was a retrospective, registry-based study, covering all patients treated with warfarin in the Swedish national anticoagulation register Auricula, which records both primary and specialised care. The study included 77,423 unselected patients with 100,952 treatment periods of warfarin, constituting 217,804 treatment years. Study period was January 1, 2006 to December 31, 2011. Atrial fibrillation was the most common indication (68 %). The mean time in therapeutic range of the international normalised ratio (INR) 2.0-3.0 was 76.5 %. The annual incidence of severe bleeding was 2.24 % and of thromboembolism 2.65 %. The incidence of intracranial bleeding was 0.37 % per treatment year in the whole population, and 0.38 % among patients with atrial fibrillation. In conclusion, warfarin treatment where patients spend a high proportion of time in the therapeutic range is safe and effective, and will continue to be a valid treatment option in the era of newer oral anticoagulants.