Dabigatran - NOAC at the forefront of a new generation of anticoagulants

Abstract:

The use of dabigatran etexilate for the prevention of thromboembolic incidents in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation has been encouraged by the very good efficacy and safety results from the pivotal RE-LY clinical trial. It was confirmed by the results gathered from the later, real clinical situation of treating the patients. To date, an impressive 8 million dabigatran patient-years data has been collected. Ten years after the first registration study, the efficacy and safety of dabigatran has been tested and proven in a variety of scenarios: from atrial fibrillation ablation to concomitant coronary blood vessel intervention - PCI but also the data of hundreds of thousands of patients treated and monitored in independent registries worldwide. Treatment with standard doses, such as dabigatran 150 mg 2 x daily with proven safety and efficacy in a number of indications, is a priority in the optimal protection and treatment of NVAF patients, which is recognized in the 2018 EHRA guidelines. Also, dabigatran among other NOACs has registered and widely available specific antidote for already four years, which provides maximum safety in modern anticoagulation.

Key words:
atrial fibrillation; bleeding; dabigatran etexilate; idarucizumab; stroke; PCI; warfarin