Effectiveness and safety of anticoagulant therapy with rivaroxaban in patients after radiofrequency catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation

AIM To evaluate the effectiveness and safety of anticoagulant therapy with rivaroxaban in patients after radiofrequency catheter ablation( RFCA) of atrial fibrillation( AF). METHODS A cohort of 157 patients who underwent RFCA for AF were enrolled. Patients were divided into rivaroxaban group( 57 patients) and warfarin group( 100 patients). In rivaroxaban group,rivaroxaban( 10 mg,bid or 20 mg,QD) was given for 1 month,and then 20 mg daily or 10 mg daily for 1 more month according to the patient's CHADS2 score. In the warfarin group,standard medication of warfarin was given for 2 months by adjusting the INR in the range between 2. 0 and 3. 0. RESULTS No differences were observed in baseline characteristics between groups except for gender. For efficacy and safety,no differences were found between groups in the rates of death and thromboembolism events including cerebral,pulmonary and systemic emboli( 0 /57 cases in rivaroxaban group vs. 0 /100 cases in warfarin group). There were no TIMI major bleeding events in either group and no significant differences were seen in minor bleeding events between rivaroxaban group and warfarin group( 3 /57 cases vs. 11 /100 cases). CONCLUSION Compared with oral warfarin,the effectiveness and safety of oral rivaroxaban could be safely and effectively used in AF patients with low or medium risk of thromboembolism after RFCA.