Novel Oral Anticoagulants for Stroke Prevention in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation

Patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) face an elevated risk of stroke compared with patients who have normal sinus rhythm. Warfarin, an oral vitamin K antagonist, is a highly effective therapeutic agent to reduce stroke risk in patients with AF; however, use of warfarin is complicated by variable patient dose response due to genetic factors and multiple food-drug and drug-drug interactions. Novel oral anticoagulants appear to be a safe, effective alternative to warfarin therapy without the need for routine coagulation monitoring. Dabigatran, a direct thrombin inhibitor, has been commercially available since 2010 for prevention of stroke in patients with nonvalvular AF. More recently, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved 2 oral activated factor X inhibitors, rivaroxaban and apixaban, for stroke prevention in patients with AF based on clinical trial evidence of their safety and efficacy. In this article, we provide an overview of the 3 novel oral anticoagulants for treating patients with AF and discuss the latest findings from subgroup analyses.