Persistent Systemic Inflammation Is Associated With Bleeding Risk in Atrial Fibrillation Patients

BACKGROUND: This study investigated the impact of systemic inflammation on bleeding risk in non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) patients treated with direct oral anticoagulants (DOAC). METHODS AND RESULTS: We conducted a single-center prospective registry of 2,216 NVAF patients treated with DOAC: the DIRECT registry (UMIN000033283). High-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) was measured ≤3 months before (pre-DOAC hsCRP) and 6±3 months after initiation of DOAC (post-DOAC hsCRP). Multivariate logistic regression model was used to assess the influence of systemic inflammation and conventional bleeding risk factors on major bleeding according to International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis criteria. Based on the findings, we created a new bleeding risk assessment score: the ORBIT-i score, which included post-DOAC hsCRP >0.100 mg/dL and all components of the ORBIT score. A total of 1,848 patients had both pre- and post-DOAC hsCRP data (follow-up duration, 460±388 days). Post-DOAC hsCRP was associated with major bleeding (OR, 2.770; 95% CI: 1.687-4.548, P<0.001). Patients with post-DOAC hsCRP >0.100 mg/dL more frequently had major bleeding than those without (log-rank test, P<0.001). ORBIT-i score had the highest C-index of 0.711 (95% CI, 0.654-0.769) compared with the ORBIT and HAS-BLED scores. CONCLUSIONS: Persistent systemic inflammation was associated with major bleeding risk. ORBIT-i score had a higher discriminative performance compared with the conventional bleeding risk scores.