Apixaban: Effective And Safe In Preventing Thromboembolic Events In Patients With Atrial Fibrillation And Renal Failure.

Thromboembolic events, principally stroke, represent among the leading causes of morbidity and mortality of subjects with atrial fibrillation, with an incidence about 5 times higher compared to healthy subjects. Chronic kidney disease, frequently associated with atrial fibrillation, determines itself a further increase of thromboembolic events, bleeding and mortality. In addition, the presence of renal failure complicates the pharmacological management of these patients, mainly due to the side effects of antiarrhythmic and anticoagulant drugs with renal excretion, due to their accumulation. Apixaban is a new oral anticoagulant characterized by good bioavailability and renal elimination accounting for only 25%, showing a safety profile and effectiveness in patients with renal impairment, who very often are under-treated or inadequately treated during atrial fibrillation. In this manuscript, we reviewed the data available in the literature regarding the use of apixaban in the management of non-valvular atrial fibrillation in patients with renal failure, in order to clarify an often-debated topic in clinical practice. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.