New agent to prevent strokes in patients with atrial fibrillation shown in major study
Tuesday, November 16, 2010 - 14:00
in Health & Medicine
In the primary result from the largest double-blind study ever completed to assess a drugs effect in the prevention of stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation, a common heart rhythm abnormality, rivaroxaban, an anti-clotting drug, was shown to be superior to warfarin, the current standard for treatment of atrial fibrillation, while patients in the study were taking study drug. However, the full intention-to-treat analysis, which includes patients who discontinued study drug, showed that rivaroxaban was non inferior to warfarin for the prevention of stroke or blood clots but did not demonstrate statistical superiority.