XANTUS-EL: A real-world, prospective, observational study of patients treated with rivaroxaban for stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation in Eastern Europe, Middle East, Africa and Latin America

BACKGROUND: The prospective, observational XANTUS study demonstrated low rates of stroke and major bleeding in real-world rivaroxaban-treated patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) from Western Europe, Canada and Israel. XANTUS-EL is a component of the overall XANTUS programme and enrolled patients with NVAF treated with rivaroxaban from Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EEMEA) and Latin America. METHODS: Patients with NVAF starting rivaroxaban for stroke prevention were consecutively recruited and followed for 1 year, at approximately 3-month intervals, or for ≥30 days after permanent rivaroxaban discontinuation. Primary outcomes were major bleeding, adverse events (AEs), serious AEs and all-cause mortality. Secondary outcomes included stroke, non-central nervous system systemic embolism (non-CNS SE), transient ischaemic attack (TIA), myocardial infarction (MI) and non-major bleeding. All major outcomes were centrally adjudicated. RESULTS: Overall, 2064 patients were enrolled; mean age ± standard deviation was 67.1 ± 11.32 years; 49.3% were male. Co-morbidities included heart failure (30.9%), hypertension (84.2%), diabetes mellitus (26.5%), prior stroke/non-CNS SE/TIA (16.2%) and prior MI (10.7%). Mean CHADS(2), CHA(2)DS(2)-VASc and HAS-BLED scores were 2.0, 3.6 and 1.6, respectively. Treatment-emergent event rates were (events/100 patient-years, [95% confidence interval]): major bleeding 0.9 (0.5–1.4); all-cause mortality 1.7 (1.2–2.4); stroke/non-CNS SE 0.7 (0.4–1.2); any AE 18.1 (16.2–20.1) and any serious AE 8.3 (7.0–9.7). One-year treatment persistence was 81.9%. CONCLUSIONS: XANTUS-EL confirmed low stroke and major bleeding rates in patients with NVAF from EEMEA and Latin America. The population was younger but with more heart failure and hypertension than XANTUS; stroke/SE rate was similar but major bleeding lower.