Intracranial hemorrhage during administration of a novel oral anticoagulant

Objective: Oral anticoagulants are widely administered to patients with atrial fibrillation in order to prevent the onset of cardiogenic embolisms. However, intracranial bleeding during anticoagulant therapy often leads to fatal outcomes. Accordingly, the use of novel oral anticoagulants (NOACs), which less frequently have intracranial bleeding as a complication, is expanding. A nationwide survey of intracranial bleeding and its prognosis in Japan reported that intracranial bleeding of advanced severity was not common after NOAC administration. In this report, two cases from our institute are presented.