E-mail to Your Friend(s)Print Friendly

New Anticoagulant More Effective in Stroke Prevention for Asian Patients with Atrial Fibrillation

A recent research led by Prof. Lawrence K.S. Wong (left), Mok Hing Yiu Professor of Medicine and Chief of Neurology at CUHK, reveals that the new oral anticoagulant, Rivaroxaban, is more effective than the traditional Warfarin in stroke prevention among Asian patients with atrial fibrillation (AF), and is more effective in Asian patients than in non-Asian patients.

As AF patients are five times more likely to have a stroke than normal persons, they should be prescribed anticoagulants to prevent clot formation. Professor Wong studied the data of 932 Asian patients participating in the international large-scale study, ROCKET AF, which involved a total of 14,262 AF patients from 45 countries worldwide. After comparing the data of the 932 patients from mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea, with that of non-Asian patients (mainly from Western countries), it is found that stroke incidence among Asian patients is 11% higher than among non-Asians.

In Professor Wong's study, half of the patients were treated with the new oral anticoagulant Rivaroxaban, and the rest were prescribed the conventional Warfarin. Results showed that Warfarin is relatively less effective in Asian patients. The study also revealed that Rivaroxaban could reduce the risk of stroke by 32% among Asian AF patients, but only 11% in non-Asians. Professor Wong concluded that the new drugs should be used as the first-line treatment for AF patients with high risk of stroke.

For details, please click here.