Comparison between non-vitamin K oral antagonist versus warfarin in atrial fibrillation with and without valvular heart disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Atrial fibrillation (AF) poses a significant stroke risk in heart disease patients. This systematic review aims to evaluate the efficacy and safety of non-vitamin K oral antagonists (NOACs) versus vitamin K antagonists (VKAs) in AF patients with and without any valvular heart disease (VHD/N-VHD).

A systematic search was conducted on PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar up to March 3, 2022. Efficacy and safety parameters were analyzed.

A total of 85,423 subjects from 10 studies were included in this meta-analysis. NOACs and VKAs showed similar effects on ischemic stroke in AF patients with VHD/N-VHD (RR 0.97; 95% CI 0.72–1.30; p = 0.83) and also on systemic embolic events (RR 1.02; 95% CI 0.83–1.25; p = 0.86). Similar effects were seen in VHD and N-VHD subgroups. Both treatments had similar effects on myocardial infarction in AF patients with VHD/N-VHD (RR 0.79; 95% CI 0.49–1.26; p = 0.32), VHD (RR 0.78; 95% CI 0.59–1.02; p = 0.07), and N-VHD subgroups (RR 0.82; 95% CI 0.30–2.21; p = 0.69). NOACs reduced the risk of intracranial bleeding in AF VHD/N-VHD (RR 0.64; 95% CI 0.54–0.77; p < 0.0001), VHD (RR 0.59; 95% CI 0.42–0.82; p = 0.002), and N-VHD subgroups (RR 0.70; 95% CI 0.57–0.85; p = 0.0003). Additionally, NOACs reduced the risk of gastrointestinal bleeding in AF VHD/N-VHD (RR 0.80; 95% CI 0.66–0.96; p = 0.02), specifically in the VHD subgroup (RR 0.69; 95% CI 0.54–0.89; p = 0.004). Moreover, NOACs were associated with a decreased risk for minor and non-fatal bleeding in AF patients with VHD/N-VHD (RR 0.86; 95% CI 0.75–0.99; p = 0.04).

NOACs are effective and safe for ischemic stroke, systemic embolic events, myocardial infarction, intracranial bleeding, and gastrointestinal bleeding in AF patients with VHD/N-VHD.