A Real-World, Prospective, Observational Study of Rivaroxaban on Prevention of Stroke and Non-Central Nervous Systemic Embolism in Renally Impaired Korean Patients With Non-Valvular Atrial Fibrillation: XARENAL

Background and objectives: Several real-world studies have been done in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF); however, information on its safety profile in patients with renal impairment is limited. XARENAL, a real-world study, aimed to prospectively investigate the safety profile of rivaroxaban in patients with NVAF with renal impairment (creatinine clearance [CrCl], 15-49 mL/min).

Methods: XARENAL is an observational single-arm cohort study in renal impairment NVAF patients. Patients were followed up approximately every 3 months for 1 year or until 30 days following early discontinuation. The primary endpoint was major bleeding events. All adverse events, symptomatic thromboembolic events, treatment duration, and renal function change from baseline were the secondary endpoints.

Results: XARENAL included 888 patients from 29 study sites. Overall, 713 (80.3%) had moderate renal impairment (CrCl, 30-49 mL/min), and 175 (19.7%) had severe renal impairment (CrCl, 15-29 mL/min) with a mean estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) of 45.2±13.0 mL/min/1.73 m². The mean risk scores were 3.3±1.4 and 1.7±0.9 for CHA₂DS₂-VASc score and HAS-BLED score, respectively. An incidence proportion of 5.6% (6.2 events per 100 patient-years) developed major bleeding; however, fatal bleeding occurred in 0.5% (0.5 events per 100 patient-years). The mean change in the eGFR was 2.22±26.47 mL/min/1.73 m² per year.

Conclusions: XARENAL observed no meaningful differences in major bleeding events from other previous findings as well as renal function changes in rivaroxaban-treated NVAF patients with renal impairment, which is considered to be acceptable in clinical practice.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03746301.