New and old anti-thrombotic treatments for patients with atrial fibrillation

Abstract

• The effectiveness of new oral anticoagulants in atrial fibrillation is extensively being studied, but also innovative medical devices aimed at this disease condition need to be evaluated (e.g. Watchman). • Regardless of the type of treatment, the same end-points (stroke or systemic embolism, death from any cause) have been assessed in clinical trials so that meta-analysis techniques can be applied. • Our study employed network meta-analysis to synthetise the effectiveness data of warfarin, new oral anticoagulants, and Watchman and showed the potential advantages of the new treatments as well as the economic implications in terms of budget impact.