Antithrombotic Therapy in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation after Myocardial Infarction: Clinical Guidelines and Actual Practice

Abstract

Aim. To study the frequency of oral anticoagulants (ОАС) prescription for patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) after myocardial infarction (MI). Material and methods. The study includes 106 patients (60 men, 55.6%) with a previously established diagnosis of AF, who were on hospital treatment in the period 2016-2017 years in one of the university hospitals of the city and having at the time of discharge from the hospital the final diagnosis of МI. The median age was 70.0 (61.0;78.0) years. Patients with the first and only paroxysm of AF were excluded from the analysis and all further calculations were performed for 104 patients. In 64 (60.2%) of cases, AF was presented by paroxysmal form, while in 2 (1.9%) cases this paroxysm was the first and only, in 20 (18.9%) cases – persistent AF and in 20 (18.9%) – pernanent. Results. While assessing the risk of thromboembolic complications on the CHA 2 DS 2 -VASc scale, the median score for all patients was 5.0 (4.0;6.0) points. While assessing the risk of hemorrhagic complications on the HAS-BLED scale, the median score for all patients was 2.0 (2.0;3.0) points. HAS-BLED≤2 value had 71 (68.3%) patients, HAS-BLED≥3 – 33 (31.7%). Only one antiplatelet agent was prescribed to 4 (3.8%) patients. Aspirin was the only antiplatelet agent in 3 cases and clopidogrel – in one case. In 80 (76.9%) cases, patients were prescribed dual antiplatelet therapy, in 17 (16.3%) – ОАС therapy, among which 7 (6.7%) cases – a triple antithrombotic therapy (ATT), 9 (8.7%) cases – a double ATT (ОАС+ antiplatelet agent) and 1 (1.0%) case – a monotherapy. Among all cases of OAC prescription warfarin was prescribed in 11 (64.7%) cases and rivaroxaban – in 6 (35.3%). Conclusion. In real clinical practice, the prescription or refusal of ОАС occurs without taking into account the risk of thromboembolic and hemorrhagic complications according to appropriate scales.