Rivaroxaban Versus Warfarin in Acute Ischemic Stroke With Atrial Fibrillation

Summary

Rationale Acute ischemic stroke due to atrial fibrillation (AF) carries a high risk for early recurrence. In acute stage, guidelines recommend aspirin, but do not recommend anticoagulation due to the increased risk of intracranial bleeding. Since, aspirin has a limited efficacy of preventing recurrent stroke in AF, expert consensus suggests early anticoagulation in non-severe stroke with AF. The current practice for acute ischemic stroke patients with AF is delayed warfarin administration with aspirin use for non-minor stroke or immediate warfarin administration (sometimes with heparin bridging) for minor stroke. However, conventional anticoagulation with warfarin in acute ischemic stroke with AF has the following limitations: 1) risk of intracranial bleeding particularly in acute stage, 2) delayed action and transient paradoxical thrombogenic tendency due to the inhibition of protein C, resulting in the risk of early recurrent embolic stroke, and 3) prolongation of hospitalization waiting for full anticoagulation. In contrast, as compared to warfarin, rivaroxaban is advantageous for reduced risk of intracranial bleeding and immediate anticoagulation efficacy.

Goal The current trial will examine whether early initiation (within 5 days from stroke onset) of rivaroxaban as compared to conventional warfarin would reduce intracranial bleeding, recurrent embolic stroke, and hospital stay in patients with acute ischemic stroke due to AF.

Conditions

• Ischemic Stroke
• Transient Ischemic Attack

Interventions

DRUG

Rivaroxaban

Rivaroxaban group receive oral rivaroxaban 10 mg once daily for 5 consecutive days, followed by 20 mg or 15 mg in patients with a calculated creatinine clearance of 30-49 ml/min. The dosage of rivaroxaban is leveraged from results of ROCKET-AF trial, where 20 mg of rivaroxaban was shown to offer balanced efficacy and safety.

DRUG

Warfarin

To harmonize the warfarin regimen across the sites, fixed algorithm was used in dose calculation, both loading and maintenance, and age, sex, ethnicity, race, weight, height, smoking history, presence of liver disease, indication, baseline INR, target INR and concomitant medication were considered as cofactors (http://www.warfarindosing.org/Source/InitialDose.aspx). Investigators will manage anticoagulation with warfarin per routine clinical care.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Bayer

  collaborator INDUSTRY

• Asan Medical Center

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Sun Uck Kwon, PhD. · Asan Medical Center

• Keun-Sik Hong, PhD · InjeUniversityIlsanPaikHospital

• Young Jae Kim, PhD · Ewha Womans University Mokdong Hospital

• Yang Ha Hwang, PhD · Kyungpook National University Hospital

• Jaekwan Cha, PhD · Dong-A University Hospital

• Woo-Keun Seo, PhD · Korea University Guro Hospital

• Eung-Gyu Kim, PhD · InjeUniversityBusanPaikHospital

• Byung-Woo Yoon, PhD · Seoul National University Hospital

• Kyung-Ho Yu, PhD · Hallym University Medical Center

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

19 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2014-01-31

Primary Completion

2015-12-31

Completion

2015-12-31

Countries

• South Korea

Study Locations