The introduction of Direct Oral Anticoagulants (DOACs) to the pharmaceutical market provided patients and clinicians with novel convenient and safe options of anticoagulation. The use of this class of medications is currently limited to venous thromboembolic therapy and prophylaxis, in addition to stroke prophylaxis in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation. Despite their altered hemostasis, patients with cirrhosis are thought to be in a procoagulant state and thus prone to thrombus formation. Patients with cirrhosis might benefit from the convenience of DOACs; however, the medical literature includes limited data on the efficacy and safety of DOACs in this special patient population. The aim of this review is to summarize the current evidence for anticoagulation options in patients with cirrhosis and their safety profile.
Background: Contrast-induced acute kidney injury (CI-AKI) is a relatively reversible cause of acute kidney injury (AKI) that occurs after radiocontrast media administration. It is a common complication after percutaneous coronary intervention, especially in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). The aim of this study is to determine the utility of red cell distribution width (RDW) in predicting CI-AKI in patients with ACS and to determine the value of adding RDW to the Mehran risk score (MRS) on admission.Methods: A total of 161 patients who presented with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) or non-STEMI were identified retrospectively between January 2015 and December 2016. Patients were divided into two groups, those who developed CI-AKI after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and those who did not.Results: A total of 161 patients were analyzed. Of them, 12 developed CI-AKI (eight presented with STEMI and four presented with non-STEMI). RDW did not correlate with the development of CI-AKI (14.55 ± 1.48 vs 14.83 ± 1.21; p = 0.072). The areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves (ROCs) for RDW, MRS, and the combined model (MRS and RDW) for the prediction of CI-AKI were 0.721 (95% confidence interval (CI), 0.645 to 0.788; p=0.0024), 0.885 (95% CI, 0.825 to 0.930; p<0.0001), 0.890 (95% CI, 0.831 to 0.933; p<0.0001), respectively. Pairwise comparisons between ROCs for MRS vs the combined model yielded a non-significant p-value of 0.49. This signifies no added benefit for RDW to MRS for predicting CI-AKI.Conclusion: RDW does not correlate with the development of CI-AKI in patients with ACS. The Mehran risk score remains a better indicator of CI-AKI risk assessment with no role for the addition of RDW to it. Further studies are needed to better assess predictors of CI-AKI in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.