| 1. |
- Själander, Sara, et al.
(författare)
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Assessment of Use vs Discontinuation of Oral Anticoagulation After Pulmonary Vein Isolation in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation
- 2017
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Ingår i: JAMA cardiology. - : American Medical Association. - 2380-6583 .- 2380-6591. ; 2:2, s. 146-152
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- IMPORTANCE: Pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) is a recommended treatment for patients with atrial fibrillation, but it is unclear whether it results in a lower risk of stroke.OBJECTIVES: To investigate the proportion of patients discontinuing anticoagulation treatment after PVI in association with the CHA(2)DS(2)-VASc (congestive heart failure, hypertension, age >= 75 years [doubled], diabetes, stroke [doubled], vascular disease, age 65-74 years, sex category [female]) score, identify factors predicting stroke after PVI, and explore the risk of cardiovascular events after PVI in patients with and without guideline-recommended anticoagulation treatment.DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: A retrospective cohort studywas conducted using Swedish national health registries from January 1, 2006, to December 31, 2012, with a mean-follow up of 2.6 years. A total of 1585 patients with atrial fibrillation undergoing PVI from the Swedish Catheter Ablation Register were included, with information about exposure to warfarin in the national quality register Auricula. Data analysis was performed from January 1, 2015, to April 30, 2016.EXPOSURES: Warfarin treatment.MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Ischemic stroke, intracranial hemorrhage, and death.RESULTS: In this cohort of 1585 patients, 73.0% were male, the mean (SD) age was 59.0 (9.4) years, and the mean (SD) CHA(2)DS(2)-VASc score was 1.5 (1.4). Of the 1585 patients, 1175 were followed up for more than 1 year after PVI. Of these, 360 (30.6%) discontinued warfarin treatment during the first year. In patients with a CHA(2)DS(2)-VASc score of 2 or more, patients discontinuing warfarin treatment had a higher rate of ischemic stroke (5 events in 312 years at risk [1.6% per year]) compared with those continuing warfarin treatment (4 events in 1192 years at risk [0.3% per year]) (P = .046). Patients with a CHA(2)DS(2)-VASc score of 2 or more or those who had previously experienced an ischemic stroke displayed a higher risk of stroke if warfarin treatment was discontinued (hazard ratio, 4.6; 95% CI, 1.2-17.2; P = .02 and hazard ratio, 13.7; 95% CI, 2.0-91.9; P = .007, respectively).CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: These findings indicate that discontinuation ofwarfarin treatment after PVI is not safe in high-risk patients, especially those who have previously experienced an ischemic stroke.
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| 2. |
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| 3. |
- Björck, Fredrik, et al.
(författare)
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Outcomes in a Warfarin-Treated Population With Atrial Fibrillation
- 2016
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Ingår i: JAMA cardiology. - : American Medical Association (AMA). - 2380-6583 .- 2380-6591. ; 1:2, s. 172-180
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- IMPORTANCE Vitamin K antagonist (eg, warfarin) use is nowadays challenged by the non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants (NOACs) for stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation (AF). NOAC studies were based on comparisons with warfarin arms with times in therapeutic range (TTRs) of 55.2% to 64.9%, making the results less credible in health care systems with higher TTRs. OBJECTIVES To evaluate the efficacy and safety of well-managed warfarin therapy in patients with nonvalvular AF, the risk of complications, especially intracranial bleeding, in patients with concomitant use of aspirin, and the impact of international normalized ratio (INR) control. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS A retrospective, multicenter cohort study based on Swedish registries, especially AuriculA, a quality register for AF and oral anticoagulation, was conducted. The register contains nationwide data, including that from specialized anticoagulation clinics and primary health care centers. A total of 40 449 patients starting warfarin therapy owing to nonvalvular AF during the study period were monitored until treatment cessation, death, or the end of the study. The study was conducted from January 1, 2006, to December 31, 2011, and data were analyzed between February 1 and November 15, 2015. Associating complications with risk factors and individual INR control, we evaluated the efficacy and safety of warfarin treatment in patients with concomitant aspirin therapy and those with no additional antiplatelet medications. EXPOSURES Use of warfarin with and without concomitant therapy with aspirin. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES Annual incidence of complications in association with individual TTR (iTTR), INR variability, and aspirin use and identification of factors indicating the probability of intracranial bleeding. RESULTS Of the 40 449 patients included in the study, 16 201 (40.0%) were women; mean (SD) age of the cohort was 72.5 (10.1) years, and the mean CHA(2)DS(2)-VASc (cardiac failure or dysfunction, hypertension, age >= 75 years [doubled], diabetes mellitus, stroke [doubled]-vascular disease, age 65-74 years, and sex category [female]) score was 3.3 at baseline. The annual incidence, reported as percentage (95% CI) of all-cause mortality was 2.19% (2.07-2.31) and, for intracranial bleeding, 0.44%(0.39-0.49). Patients receiving concomitant aspirin had annual rates of any major bleeding of 3.07%(2.70-3.44) and thromboembolism of 4.90% (4.43-5.37), and those with renal failure were at higher risk of intracranial bleeding (hazard ratio, 2.25; 95% CI, 1.32-3.82). Annual rates of any major bleeding and any thromboembolism in iTTR less than 70% were 3.81% (3.51-4.11) and 4.41% (4.09-4.73), respectively, and, in high INR variability, were 3.04%(2.85-3.24) and 3.48% (3.27-3.69), respectively. For patients with iTTR 70% or greater, the level of INR variability did not alter event rates. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE Well-managed warfarin therapy is associated with a low risk of complications and is still a valid alternative for prophylaxis of AF-associated stroke. Therapy should be closely monitored for patients with renal failure, concomitant aspirin use, and poor INR control.
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| 4. |
- Grzymala-Lubanski, Bartosz, 1980-
(författare)
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Anticoagulation treatment in patients with a mechanical heart valve
- 2016
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- BackgroundEvery year about 2,500 patients in Sweden undergo surgery for heart valve disease, primarily in the aortic valve. In contrast to the mitral valve, which can be repaired in 70% of the cases, the aortic valve is normally replaced by a mechanical or biological prosthesis. A mechanical heart valve (MHV) necessitates lifelong anticoagulation treatment with a vitamin K antagonist, most commonly warfarin, due to the high thrombogenicity of the prosthesis. The quality of the warfarin treatment is crucial in these patients. Compared to other countries, treatment quality in Sweden is very high; nonetheless, there is always room for improvement. One of the ways to achieve this improvement is to implement computerized dosing assistance. Treatment recommendations for anticoagulation intensity are based on few and old studies, making these recommendations uncertain. There is therefore a need for studies designed to establish the appropriate level of anticoagulation therapy.AimThe aim of these studies was to investigate the efficacy and safety of anticoagulation treatment among patients with mechanical heart valve prostheses in Sweden; to assess whether computerized dosing can increase the treatment quality; to investigate the influence of the treatment quality, measured by Time in Therapeutic Range (TTR) and INR variability, on the risk of complications and, finally, to establish the optimal intensity of anticoagulation treatment in this group of patients.MethodsData were obtained from AuriculA – a national quality registry established in 2006, which currently includes approximately 50% of all patients treated with oral anticoagulation in Sweden.Study II used only data from AuriculA. 769,933 warfarin-dosing suggestions proposed by the dosing algorithm in AuriculA were analysed. Accepted dose suggestions (590,939) were compared with 178,994 manually-changed doses in regard to the resultant INR value, measured as mean error (deviation from target INR) and hit rate (number of INR samples within the target range 2-3).In study III, AuriculA was used to identify patients in Sundsvall and Malmö in the period 2008 – 2011 who were receiving warfarin for a mechanical heart valve prosthesis, as well as to retrieve their INR data. Data on background characteristics and bleedings or thromboembolic complications were manually retrieved from medical records by two investigators. A total of 534 patients with mechanical heart valve prostheses were divided into quartiles based on TTR and were compared regarding the risk of complications.For Studies I and IV, data from AuriculA were merged with the Swedish National Patient Register, SWEDEHEART/ Heart surgery, and the Swedish Cause of Death Register, comprising in total 77,423 patients on warfarin with 217,804 treatment years. Every treatment period registered in AuriculA was given an individual identification number. During the study period a patient could have any number of treatment periods. The number of complications in total and in different patient groups within the study population was investigated. Complications were defined by ICD-10 codes. Major bleeding was defined as an event necessitating hospital treatment and given a discharge diagnosis with one of the ICD-10 codes reflecting bleeding, as listed in the Appendix. Bleeding events were divided into intracranial, gastrointestinal and other bleedings. Thromboembolic complications consist of venous events (deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, venous stroke) or arterial events (stroke, TIA, acute myocardial infarction, peripheral arterial embolism).Data were analysed using both simple, descriptive statistical methods and various tests such as Mann-Whitney (or two sample Wilcoxon), T-test, Chi 2 test, ANOVA, multivariate analysis with logistic regression and survival analysis with Cox Regression with proportional hazard assumption.ResultsTreatment quality Mean TTR among all patients in Study I was 76.5% whereas patients with mechanical heart valve prostheses had a TTR of 74.5%. The annual incidence of major bleeding or thromboembolic events among all patients was 2.24% and 2.65%, respectively. The incidence of intracranial bleeding was 0.37% per year in the general population and 0.51% among patients with mechanical heart valve prostheses, who also had a higher bleeding rate in total (3.37% per year).Both the mean and median errors were smaller (0.44 vs. 0.48 and 0.3 vs. 0.4, respectively) and the hit rate was higher (0.72 vs. 0.67) when the dose suggested by the algorithm was accepted, compared to when it was manually changed.TTR In Study III there was no significant difference in the risk of thromboembolism regardless of TTR level. Risk of bleeding in quartiles I and II was more than two times higher than in the quartile with TTR >82.9.In Study IV, lower TTR (≤70%) was associated with a significantly higher rate of complications when compared with TTR >70%. Bleeding risk was higher in the group with lower TTR (HR=2.43, CI 2.02-2.89, p<0.001). After dividing patients into TTR quartiles, the rate of complications in total was significantly higher in quartiles I to III compared with quartile IV, which had the highest TTR. Risk of thromboembolism, major bleeding and death was higher in the first and second quartile compared to the quartile with the highest TTR.INR variability Higher INR variability above mean (≥0.40) was related to a higher rate of complications compared with lower INR variability (<0.40) as shown in Study IV. Bleeding risk was higher in the group with INR variability ≥0.40 (HR = 2.15, CI 1.75-2.61, p<0.001).Comparison of quartile IV, which had the lowest INR variability, with the other three revealed that quartiles I and II, which had the highest INR variability, had significantly worse outcomes for all complications except for thromboembolic events, plus also death in quartile II.TTR and INR variability combined High variability and low TTR combined was associated with a higher risk of bleedings (HR 2.50, CI 1.99-3.15), death (3.34, CI 2.62-4-27) and thrombosis (1.55, CI 1.21-1.99) compared to the best group.Level of anticoagulation Higher warfarin treatment intensity (mean INR 2.8-3.2 vs. 2.2-2.7) was associated with a higher rate of bleedings (HR 1.29, CI 1.06-1.58), death (1.73, CI 1.38-2.16) and complications in total (1.24, CI 1.06-1.41) after adjustment for MHV position, age and comorbidity.ConclusionWarfarin treatment quality is crucial for patients with mechanical heart valve prostheses. Computerized dosing assistance could help maintain high warfarin treatment quality.Well-managed treatment with TTR ≥70% and INR variability below mean <0.40 is associated with a lower risk of serious complications compared with a lower TTR and higher INR variability.No benefit of higher warfarin treatment intensity was found for any valve type or position.
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| 5. |
- Grzymala-Lubanski, Bartosz, et al.
(författare)
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Warfarin treatment quality and prognosis in patients with mechanical heart valve prosthesis.
- 2017
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Ingår i: Heart (British Cardiac Society). - : BMJ. - 1468-201X .- 1355-6037. ; 103:3
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- To study the impact of time in therapeutic range (TTR) and international normalised ratio (INR) variability on the risk of thromboembolic events, major bleeding complications and death after mechanical heart valve (MHV) implantation. Additionally, the importance of different target INR levels was elucidated.
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| 6. |
- Gummesson, Christina, et al.
(författare)
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Entrustable professional activities (EPAs) for undergraduate medical education : development and exploration of social validity
- 2023
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Ingår i: BMC Medical Education. - : BioMed Central (BMC). - 1472-6920. ; 23:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: The development of entrustable professional activities (EPAs) as a framework for work-based training and assessment in undergraduate medical education has become popular. EPAs are defined as units of a professional activity requiring adequate knowledge, skills, and attitudes, with a recognized output of professional labor, independently executable within a time frame, observable and measurable in its process and outcome, and reflecting one or more competencies. Before a new framework is implemented in a specific context, it is valuable to explore social validity, that is, the acceptability by relevant stakeholders.Aim: The aim of our work was to define Core EPAs for undergraduate medical education and further explore the social validity of the constructs.Method and material: In a nationwide collaboration, EPAs were developed using a modified Delphi procedure and validated according to EQual by a group consisting of teachers nominated from each of the seven Swedish medical schools, two student representatives, and an educational developer (n = 16). In the next step, social validity was explored in a nationwide survey. The survey introduced the suggested EPAs. For each EPA, the importance of the EPA was rated, as was the rater’s perception of the present graduates’ required level of supervision when performing the activity. Free-text comments were also included and analyzed.Results: Ten Core EPAs were defined and validated. The validation scores for EQual ranged from 4.1 to 4.9. The nationwide survey had 473 responders. All activities were rated as “important” by most responders, ranging from 54 to 96%. When asked how independent current graduates were in performing the ten activities, 6 to 35% reported “independent”. The three themes of the free text comments were: ‘relevant target areas and content’; ‘definition of the activities’; and ‘clinical practice and learning’.Conclusion: Ten Core EPAs were defined and assessed as relevant for Swedish undergraduate medical education. There was a consistent gap between the perceived importance and the certainty that the students could perform these professional activities independently at the time of graduation. These results indicate that the ten EPAs may have a role in undergraduate education by creating clarity for all stakeholders.
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| 7. |
- Labaf, Ashkan, et al.
(författare)
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Incidence and risk factors for thromboembolism and major bleeding in patients with mechanical valve prosthesis: A nationwide population-based study
- 2016
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Ingår i: American Heart Journal. - : Elsevier BV. - 0002-8703 .- 1097-6744. ; 181, s. 1-9
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Risk factors of stroke/thromboembolism (TE) and major bleeding, and incidence of these events in specific age categories in warfarin-treated patients with mechanical heart valves (MHV) are uncertain. Our objective was to calculate event rates in specific age categories and identify risk factors for adverse events. Methods and results We identified 4,810 treatment periods with MHV between January 2006 and December 2011 in the Auricula and Swedish Web system for Enhancement and Development of Evidence-based care in Heart disease Evaluated According to Recommended Therapies registries. There were 3,751 treatment periods with aortic valve replacements (AVR) and 866 with mitral valve replacements (MVR). Median follow-up time was 4.5 years (IQR, 1.5-6.0). Time in therapeutic range with warfarin for patients with AVR was 74.2% for international normalized ratio of 2.0 to 3.0, with 72% of the patients having this target range. Rate of stroke/TE for AVR and MVR was 1.3 and 1.6 per 100 patient years, respectively (P=.20). The rate of first major bleeding was 2.6 and 3.9 per 100 patient years with AVR and MVR, respectively (P<.001). By multivariate analysis for AVR, age (hazard ratio [HR], 1.02; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.01-1.03 per year) and previous stroke (HR, 2.4; 95% CI, 1.7-3.5) emerged as independent risk factors for stroke/TE. Heart failure (HR, 0.9; 95% CI, 0.6-1.4) and atrial fibrillation (HR, 1.0; 95% CI, 0.7-1.4) were not associated to stroke/TE. For major bleeding events, age (HR, 1.02; 95% CI, 1.01-1.03 per year) and previous major bleeding (HR, 2.5; 95% CI, 1.9-3.3) emerged as independent risk factors for AVR. Conclusions In a nationwide cohort study with MHV and high time in therapeutic range, heart failure and atrial fibrillation did not appear as risk factors of stroke/TE. © 2016
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| 8. |
- Labaf, A., et al.
(författare)
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Predictive accuracies of CHA2DS2-VASc and HAS-BLED, and anticoagulation quality in relation to thromboemblism and bleeding in patients with mechanical heart valves
- 2013
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Ingår i: European Heart Journal. - : Oxford University Press. - 0195-668X .- 1522-9645. ; 34:Supplement: 1, s. 379-379
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Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Background: The variability of international normalized ratio (INR) is considered a risk factor in patients with mechanical heart valves (MHV)and INR target range still remains unestablished. CHA2DS2-VASc andHAS-BLED are risk stratification schemas designed for atrial fibrillation. Their ability to discriminate thromboembolism (TE) and bleeding for patients with MHV have never been investigated.Methods: We conducted a complete study of all patients with MHV followed in two centres. A total of 407 and 140 patients respectively were followed between 2008-2011. Data on INR, time in therapeutic range (TTR), variability, CHA2DS2-VASc and HAS-BLED were extracted.Results: The mean (±SD) age in centre 1 and 2 were 70 (14) and 61 (14) respectively. The target INR range for all MHV was 2-4 in centre 1 and 2-3 in centre 2 and mean INR was 2.9 (0.31) and 2.6 (0.19) respectively. The incidence of TE was 3.4 per 100 patient-years in centre 1 and 1.4 per 100 patient-years in centre 2, p=0.035, and for major bleeding 4.9 per 100 patient-years and 1.7 per 100 patient-years respectively, p=0.005. TheHAS-BLED score correlated well with bleeding, with area under the curveof 0.63 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.57-0.70). CHA2DS2-VASc had 0.56 (95% CI: 0.48-0.64) for TE. Adding atrial fibrillation as a risk factor did not improve the c statistic. INR variability (SD), comparing the 3rd tertile with the first had (Odds ratio [OR]: 4.05; 95% [CI]: 2.09-7.84) for major bleeding and (OR: 2.01; 95% [CI]: 1.0-3.99) for TE. INR SD was higher with a higher mean INR and target range 2-4 (p<0.001) andindependently predicted bleeding.Conclusion: HAS-BLED predicted bleeding with discriminatory ability similar to previous reports to atrial fibrillation whilst CHA2DS2-VAScpredictive ability for TE was modest. Higher INR intensity is associated with higher variability, which correlates to primarily bleeding, but also TE. Some of the difference between the groups considering TE can be accounted for more significant risk factors in the centre 1 cohort. A more narrow INR target range could be recommended to reduce variability ofanticoagulation.
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| 9. |
- Mochalina, Natalia, et al.
(författare)
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Ischemic stroke rates decline in patients with atrial fibrillation as anticoagulants uptake improves : A Swedish cohort study
- 2017
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Ingår i: Thrombosis Research. - : PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD. - 0049-3848 .- 1879-2472. ; 158, s. 44-48
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Introduction: The impact of the increased anticoagulants uptake on incidence rate of ischemic stroke is largely unknown. We assessed time trends in rates of ischemic stroke in patients with incident atrial fibrillation (AF) diagnosed between 2011 and 2013.Materials and methods: Population-based retrospective registry study of all 11,500 adults diagnosed with incident non-valvular atrial fibrillation in 2011-2013 in primary and secondary care and receiving oral anticoagulants (n = 4847), aspirin (n = 2850) or no treatment (n = 3766) in Skane County, Sweden. The primary outcome was the rate of ischemic stroke within 365 days after AF diagnosis.Results and conclusion: Cumulative incidence of ischemic stroke decreased from 2.87% (95% confidence interval (CI) 2.37-3.45%) to 1.93% (95% CI 1.54-2.41%) while the uptake of oral anticoagulants increased from 36.6% to 48.4% between 2011 and 2013 (regression coefficient - 0.08; 95% CI, - 0.09 to - 0.07, p < 0.001). The increased uptake of oral anticoagulants in the community is associated with decreased incidence of ischemic stroke in AF patients.
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| 10. |
- Sandén, Per, et al.
(författare)
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Bleeding complications and mortality in warfarin-treated VTE patients, dependence of INR variability and iTTR
- 2017
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Ingår i: Thrombosis and Haemostasis. - 0340-6245 .- 2567-689X. ; 117:1, s. 27-32
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- High quality of warfarin treatment is important to prevent recurrence of venous thromboembolism (VTE) without bleeding complications. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of individual time in therapeutic range (iTTR) and International Normalised Ratio (INR) variability on bleeding risk and mortality in a large cohort of well-managed patients with warfarin due to VTE. A cohort of 16612 patients corresponding to 19502 treatment periods with warfarin due to VTE between January 1, 2006 and December 31, 2011 was retrieved from the Swedish national quality register AuriculA and matched with the Swedish National Patient Register for bleeding complications and background characteristics and the Cause of death register for occurrence and date of death. The rate of bleeding was 1.79 (confidence interval (CI) 95 % 1.66-1.93) per 100 treatment years among all patients. Those with poor warfarin treatment quality had a higher rate of clinically relevant bleeding, both when measured as iTTR below 70 %, 2.91 (CI 95 % 2.61-3.21) or as INR variability over the mean value 0.85, 2.61 (CI 95 % 2.36-2.86). Among those with both high INR variability and low iTTR the risk of clinically relevant bleeding was clearly increased hazard ratio (HR) 3.47 (CI 95 % 2.89-4.17). A similar result was found for all-cause mortality with a HR of 3.67 (CI 95 % 3.02-4.47). Both a low iTTR and a high INR variability increase the risk of bleeding complications or mortality. When combining the two treatment quality indicators patients at particular high risk of bleeding or death can be identified.
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