Anticoagulants in non-valvular atrial fibrillation
KCE Reports 279 (2016)
Anticoagulants are prescribed, among others, to people with a heart rhythm disorder called atrial fibrillation, in order to reduce their risk of stroke. In recent years, “new oral anticoagulants” or NOAC’s have arrived on the market. Their use is more practical than that of the “old” ones, but their price is also much higher. In addition, our critical analysis of existing data has allowed us to discover that their benefits are not as obvious as they seem to be. Their effectiveness is generally considered superior to that of old drugs … but it is only a few tenths of a percent, and provided that they are correctly used. Indeed, they are often prescribed at doses lower than the recommended doses, but there are no studies proving that these reduced doses are effective. It may thus well be that many patients are not as well protected as one thinks.
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