Dabigatran in Secondary Stroke Prevention: Clinical Experience with 106 Patients
Table 1
Baseline characteristics.
Baseline clinical variables
Number of patients (females, %)
106 (56, 52.8)
Mean age ± SD (range)
76.4 ± 9.8 (50–95)
Hypertension (%)
84 (79.2)
Diabetes (%)
35 (33.0)
Peripheral artery disease (%)
5 (4.7)
Ischemic heart disease (%)
9 (8.5)
Previous systemic bleeding (%)*
8 (7.5)
Heart failure (%)**
8 (7.5)
Mean GFR ± SD (range)***
72.6 mL/min ± 21.3 (32–122)
GFR < 60 mL/min (%)
29 (27.9)
Median NIHSS (range)
1 (0–18)
Median mRS (range)
1 (0–4)
Median CHADS (range)
4 (2–6)
Median CHA2DS2-VASc (range)
5 (2–9)
CHA2DS2VASc > 5 (%)
75 (70.8)
Median HAS-BLED (range)
2 (1–5)
Reason for starting dabigatran
Stroke/TIA (%)
101 (95.3)
VKA-related bleeding (%)
5 (4.7)
Previous anticoagulation (%)
39 (36.8)
Ischemic stroke ( with INR < 2)
34 (29)
Bleeding ( with INR > 2)
5 (5)
Dabigatran dose
150 mg/12 hours (%)
35 (33)
110 mg/12 hours (%)
71 (67)
Age > 75
66
HAS-BLED ≥ 3
14
GFR 30–50 mL/min
9
Concomitant antiaggregation therapy (%)
9 (8.5)
Any bleeding with anemia considered as 2-point drop in hemoglobin measured in g/dL and/or need for packed red blood cell transfusion (RCC). **Congestive heart failure or left ventricular ejection fraction <40. ***Measured by Crockcroft-Gault formula. SD: standard deviation, DM: diabetes mellitus, GFR: glomerular filtration rate, NIHSS: National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale, and mRS: Modified Rankin Scale.
