10.2217/14750708.5.5.685 © 2 Dabigatran etexilate is a direct thrombin inhibitor that offers potential advantages over existing anticoagulants for the prevention and treatment of venous and arterial thrombosis. It is administered orally, has a rapid onset of action, a predictable anticoagulant effect and does not require laboratory monitoring. Trial results indicate that dabigatran etexilate ha...

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a major risk factor for ischaemic stroke. Anticoagulant therapy, such as warfarin, is prescribed to prevent stroke in patients with AF. Careful monitoring is required to achieve safe and effective levels of warfarin in the blood. In March 2012, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence recommended a new anticoagulant--dabigatran etexilate--for the pre...

We thank Dr. Kamel and colleagues for their valuable comments [1] and would like to provide the following response to the questions raised. The unbound dabigatran concentration reflects the level of active dabigatran in the blood. Administration of idarucizumab 5 g to volunteers of various age groups and with different degrees of renal impairment reduced unbound dabigatran concentrations to bel...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Therapeutic options for acute ischemic stroke patients presenting on effective anticoagulation are limited. Idarucizumab, a humanized, monoclonal antibody fragment for immediate reversal of dabigatran, may allow this subgroup of orally anticoagulated patients to regain eligibility for thrombolysis. METHODS We report the first successful acute antagonization of dabigatra...

BACKGROUND Oral anticoagulants such as apixaban, dabigatran, and rivaroxaban are alternatives to warfarin for preventing events in patients with atrial fibrillation. Direct comparative studies between agents are unavailable. Our objective was to conduct an adjusted indirect comparison meta-analysis between new oral agents in atrial fibrillation. METHODS AND RESULTS We searched MEDLINE and Coc...

BACKGROUND Different outcomes among patients hospitalized for bleeding after starting anticoagulation could influence choice of anticoagulant. We compared length of hospitalization, proportion of Intensive Care Unit (ICU) admissions, ICU length of stay, and 30- and 90-day mortality for adults with atrial fibrillation hospitalized for bleeding after starting warfarin, dabigatran, or rivaroxaban....

BACKGROUND The safety and effectiveness of non-vitamin K antagonist (VKA) oral anticoagulants, dabigatran or rivaroxaban, were compared with VKA in anticoagulant-naive patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation during the early phase of anticoagulant therapy. METHODS AND RESULTS With the use of the French medico-administrative databases (SNIIRAM and PMSI), this nationwide cohort study incl...

Dabigatran is a direct thrombin inhibitor used as an alternative to warfarin for long-term anticoagulation. We describe a patient who developed acute kidney injury (AKI) in the setting of warfarin conversion to dabigatran, and a renal biopsy demonstrating acute tubular injury. Although the patient had undiagnosed IgA nephropathy that may have predisposed him to bleeding, AKI was due to heme-ass...

We describe a 75-year-old female patient with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation who presented with acute ischemic stroke during treatment with dabigatran 2 × 110 mg per day. After informed consent, we reversed the anticoagulant effects of dabigatran using idarucizumab and applied an intravenous thrombolysis (IVT) with recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (off-label use). An intracerebral hemo...