Intracranial calcifications under vitamin K antagonists or direct oral anticoagulants: Results from the French VIKING study in older adults

OBJECTIVES: The use of vitamin K antagonists (VKA) is associated with the onset of vascular and soft-tissue calcifications. Whether there are more intracranial calcifications under VKA remains unclear. The objective of this study was to determine whether the regular use of VKA in older adults was associated with an increased burden of intracranial calcifications compared with the use of direct oral anticoagulant (DOA). STUDY DESIGN: Nineteen patients aged 70 years or more using VKA for more than 3 months and 19 controls (matched for age, gender and indication for anticoagulation) using DOA for more than 3 months were consecutively included in this study. MAIN OUTCOMES MEASURES: The burden of intracranial calcifications was graded by an experienced neuroradiologist from 0 (no burden) to 3 (high burden) according to the quantity, size, intensity and confluence of calcifications on computed tomography scan of the brain. Age, gender, frontal assessment battery (FAB) score, hypertension, dyslipidaemia, carotid artery stenosis, kidney failure and indication for anticoagulation were investigated as potential confounders. RESULTS: The 19 patients using VKA (median[IQR], 84years[7]; 10females) exhibited a greater burden of falcian calcifications than the 19 controls using DOA (respectively, 2[1] versus 1[2], P = 0.025). Overall, we found that using VKA was directly associated with the global burden of intracranial calcifications (β = 1.54, P = 0.049). No correlation was found with calcifications in sites other than the falx cerebri. CONCLUSIONS: The use of VKA was associated with a greater burden of intracranial calcifications compared with the use of DOA, specifically in the falx cerebri. This finding may explain part of the neurocognitive morbidity met with VKA.