• Researchers led by Emma Maud Powell at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine emulated the ARISTOTLE(Apixaban for the Reduction in Stroke and Other Thromboembolic Events in Atrial Fibrillation) trial to compare the effectiveness of apixaban and warfarin in stroke prevention for patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation.

• The study used data from the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) Aurum, which includes primary care records, linked hospital admissions, and mortality data, including an equal number of (8734) apixaban and warfarin users.

• Apixaban showed noninferiority to warfarin for stroke/systemic embolism (hazard ratio [HR] 0.98; 95% CI: 0.82–1.19), similar to ARISTOTLE’s results but without confirming Apixaban’s superiority.

• The study successfully confirms apixaban’s noninferiority to warfarin but not its superiority.

• The results differed from those of the original trial due to the higher quality of warfarin control, suboptimal dosing of apixaban, and demographic differences.

Click here to read more.