Dabigatran for atrial fibrillation. Why we can not rely on RE-LY

Aaron M. Tejani; Vijaya Musini

doi:10.1684/med.2012.0809



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Dabigatran for atrial fibrillation. Why we can not rely on RE-LY
Médecine. Volume 8, Number 3, 106-9, Mars 2012, Thérapeutiques
Résumé Article gratuit
Author(s) : Aaron M. Tejani, Vijaya Musini
Summary : Licensing of dabigatran 150 mg BID for atrial fibrillation is premature, pharmacologically irrational and unsafe for many patients. The optimal dose of dabigatran for non-valvular atrial fibrillation is not yet clear. An independent audit of RE-LY is needed to check for irregularities in conduct, sources of bias and the cause of the unusually high incidence of intracranial hemorrhage in the warfarin arm. An independently conducted double-blind RCT comparing dabigatran with warfarin in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation is required. Taking antiplatelet drugs in combination with oral anticoagulants doubles the incidence of major bleeding events.
Keywords : Anticoagulants\; Atrial Fibrillation\; Platelet Aggregation Inhibitors\; Stroke