Anticoagulation for Atrial Fibrillation in End-stage Kidney Disease

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common arrhythmia in the general population and it has been found to have a higher prevalence in end-stage kidney disease (ESKD). It is associated with a higher risk of stroke and mortality compared to those without AF.  Patients with ESKD have generally been exc...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Gavin Lee, David W Johnson
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Biogenic Press 2015-10-01
Series:Journal of Controversies in Biomedical Research
Subjects:
Online Access:https://jcbmr.com/index.php/jcbmr/article/view/9
Description
Summary:Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common arrhythmia in the general population and it has been found to have a higher prevalence in end-stage kidney disease (ESKD). It is associated with a higher risk of stroke and mortality compared to those without AF.  Patients with ESKD have generally been excluded from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating the efficacy of anticoagulation in reduction of stroke risk. Current observational evidence for anticoagulation for AF in the ESKD population has yielded conflicting results, but in aggregate favours a lack of benefit in stroke risk reduction with an increase in bleeding risk. There are also reports that warfarin use in ESKD patients on dialysis is associated with greater International Normalised Ratio (INR) variability and increased risk of vascular calcification and calciphylaxis (uraemic calcific arteriolopathy). RCTs are required to assess the net clinical benefit of anticoagulation in this group.
ISSN:2205-5975