Background: Non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants (NOACs) have gained increasing importance for stroke prevention in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation (AF). With changing prescription practice, among other factors, clinicians can expect to see rising numbers of patients with ischemic stroke and pre-existing NOAC therapy. Few data exist regarding a potential impact of NOAC on stroke severity and outcome.
Aims: To evaluate the impact of pre-admission NOAC therapy on ischemic stroke severity.
Methods: Retrospective analysis of medical data of 376 patients with newly detected AF or known AF with either no pre-admission oral anticoagulation (n = 277) or existing NOAC therapy (n = 99; Apixaban, n = 33, Dabigatran, n = 16; Edoxaban, n = 1; Rivaroxaban, n = 49) consecutively admitted for acute ischemic stroke between January 2015 and December 2016.
Results: Patients with pre-admission NOAC had significantly more often experienced a prior stroke than patients not on NOAC therapy (45.5 vs. 18.4%, p < 0.001) and were significantly more frequently non-smokers (1.0 vs. 7.2%, p = 0.021). Significantly more patients without pre-admission NOAC received thrombolysis (33.8 vs. 8.1%, p < 0.001). Pre-admission NOAC therapy was associated with significantly lower NIHSS and mRS scores upon admission (median NIHSS score 6 vs. 10, p = 0.018, median mRS score 4 vs. 5, p = 0.035) and trend-level lower NIHSS scores at discharge (median NIHSS score 3 vs. 5, p = 0.057). There were no differences regarding the frequency of symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage between NOAC and non-NOAC patients (p > 0.05).
Conclusions: We report a positive impact of pre-admission NOAC on ischemic stroke severity, which is particularly remarkable in light of the increased prevalence of prior stroke and lower rates of thrombolysis in this patient population.
Keywords: Atrial fibrillation; Ischemic stroke; NOAC; Neurology; Secondary prevention; Stroke severity.