Riccardo Cappato1, Michael D Ezekowitz2, Allan L Klein3, A John Camm4, Chang-Sheng Ma5, Jean-Yves Le Heuzey6, Mario Talajic7, Maurício Scanavacca8, Panos E Vardas9, Paulus Kirchhof10, Melanie Hemmrich11, Vivian Lanius12, Isabelle Ling Meng11, Peter Wildgoose13, Martin van Eickels11, Stefan H Hohnloser14. 1. Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology Center, University of Milan, IRCCS Policlinico San Donato, San Donato Milanese, Milan, Italy. 2. The Sidney Kimell Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University, 1999 Sproul Rd, Suite 25, Broomall, PA 19008, USA michael.ezekowitz@comcast.net. 3. Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Cleveland Clinic Heart and Vascular Institute, Cleveland, OH, USA. 4. Division of Clinical Sciences, St George's, University of London, London, UK. 5. Cardiology Division, Beijing AnZhen Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China. 6. Division of Cardiology and Arrhythmology, Hôpital Européen Georges Pompidou, Université Paris V René-Descartes, Paris, France. 7. Department of Medicine, Research Center, Montreal Heart Institute, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Canada. 8. Arrhythmia Clinical Unit of Heart Institute (InCor), University of São Paulo Medical School, São Paulo, Brazil. 9. Department of Cardiology, Heraklion University Hospital, Heraklion (Crete), Greece. 10. Centre for Cardiovascular Sciences, School of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK SWBH NHS Trust, Birmingham, UK Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Hospital of the University of Münster, Münster, Germany. 11. Global Medical Affairs, Bayer HealthCare, Berlin, Germany. 12. Global Research and Development Statistics, Bayer HealthCare, Berlin, Germany. 13. Janssen Scientific Affairs, LLC, Raritan, NJ, USA. 14. Department of Cardiology, Division of Clinical Electrophysiology, J.W. Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany.
Abstract
AIMS: X-VeRT is the first prospective randomized trial of a novel oral anticoagulant in patients with atrial fibrillation undergoing elective cardioversion. METHODS AND RESULTS: We assigned 1504 patients torivaroxaban (20 mg once daily, 15 mg if creatinine clearance was between 30 and 49 mL/min) or dose-adjusted vitamin K antagonists (VKAs) in a 2:1 ratio. Investigators selected either an early (target period of 1-5 days after randomization) or delayed (3-8 weeks) cardioversion strategy. The primary efficacy outcome was the composite of stroke, transient ischaemic attack, peripheral embolism, myocardial infarction, and cardiovascular death. The primary safety outcome was major bleeding. The primary efficacy outcome occurred in 5 (two strokes) of 978 patients (0.51%) in the rivaroxaban group and in 5 (two strokes) of 492 patients (1.02%) in the VKA group [risk ratio 0.50; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.15-1.73]. In the rivaroxaban group, four patients experienced primary efficacy events following early cardioversion (0.71%) and one following delayed cardioversion (0.24%). In the VKA group, three patients had primary efficacy events following early cardioversion (1.08%) and two following delayed cardioversion (0.93%). Rivaroxaban was associated with a significantly shorter time to cardioversion compared with VKAs (P < 0.001). Major bleeding occurred in six patients (0.6%) in the rivaroxaban group and four patients (0.8%) in the VKA group (risk ratio 0.76; 95% CI 0.21-2.67). CONCLUSION:Oral rivaroxaban appears to be an effective and safe alternative to VKAs and may allow prompt cardioversion. NAME OF THE TRIAL REGISTRY: Clinicaltrials.gov; TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT01674647. Published on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology. All rights reserved.
RCT Entities:
AIMS: X-VeRT is the first prospective randomized trial of a novel oral anticoagulant in patients with atrial fibrillation undergoing elective cardioversion. METHODS AND RESULTS: We assigned 1504 patients to rivaroxaban (20 mg once daily, 15 mg if creatinine clearance was between 30 and 49 mL/min) or dose-adjusted vitamin K antagonists (VKAs) in a 2:1 ratio. Investigators selected either an early (target period of 1-5 days after randomization) or delayed (3-8 weeks) cardioversion strategy. The primary efficacy outcome was the composite of stroke, transient ischaemic attack, peripheral embolism, myocardial infarction, and cardiovascular death. The primary safety outcome was major bleeding. The primary efficacy outcome occurred in 5 (two strokes) of 978 patients (0.51%) in the rivaroxaban group and in 5 (two strokes) of 492 patients (1.02%) in the VKA group [risk ratio 0.50; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.15-1.73]. In the rivaroxaban group, four patients experienced primary efficacy events following early cardioversion (0.71%) and one following delayed cardioversion (0.24%). In the VKA group, three patients had primary efficacy events following early cardioversion (1.08%) and two following delayed cardioversion (0.93%). Rivaroxaban was associated with a significantly shorter time to cardioversion compared with VKAs (P < 0.001). Major bleeding occurred in six patients (0.6%) in the rivaroxaban group and four patients (0.8%) in the VKA group (risk ratio 0.76; 95% CI 0.21-2.67). CONCLUSION: Oral rivaroxaban appears to be an effective and safe alternative to VKAs and may allow prompt cardioversion. NAME OF THE TRIAL REGISTRY: Clinicaltrials.gov; TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT01674647. Published on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology. All rights reserved.
Authors: Daniel Caldeira; João Costa; Joaquim J Ferreira; Gregory Y H Lip; Fausto J Pinto Journal: Clin Res Cardiol Date: 2015-02-03 Impact factor: 5.460