Abstract
Background We sought to examine patient characteristics, peri-infarction invasive and pharmacologic management, and in-hospital major bleeding in myocardial infarction patients with atrial fibrillation or flutter, based on home anticoagulant use. Methods and Results We stratified patients by home anticoagulant: (1) no anticoagulant, (2) warfarin, and (3) direct oral anticoagulants ( DOAC s) among ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction ( STEMI ) and non-STEMI (NSTEMI) patients with atrial fibrillation or flutter treated at 761 US hospitals in the ACTION (Acute Coronary Treatment and Intervention Outcomes Network) Registry from January 2015 to December 2016. The primary outcome of our study was in-hospital major bleeding. Multivariable logistic regression was used to examine the independent association between home anticoagulant and in-hospital major bleeding. Among 6471 STEMI patients with atrial fibrillation or flutter, 15.7% were on warfarin and 13.0% on DOAC s; among 19 954 NSTEMI patients, 22.8% were on warfarin and 15.4% on DOAC s. In STEMI , door-to-balloon times were slightly higher in those on anticoagulant, with similar rates of angiography within 24 hours in the 3 groups. NSTEMI patients on anticoagulant were less likely to undergo angiography (49.3% no anticoagulant, 33.4% on warfarin, 36.4% on DOAC s; P<0.01) or percutaneous coronary intervention within 24 hours (21.1% no anticoagulant, 14.3% on warfarin, 15.9% on DOAC s; P<0.01). After multivariate adjustment, use of home warfarin (odds ratio: 1.00 [95% CI , 0.79-1.27] in STEMI and 1.13 [95% CI , 0.97-1.30] in NSTEMI ) or DOAC (odds ratio: 0.93 [95% CI , 0.73-1.20] in STEMI and 0.97 [95% CI , 0.81-1.16] in NSTEMI ) was not associated with increased in-hospital major bleeding compared with no anticoagulant. Conclusions In routine clinical practice, home warfarin or DOAC therapy is not associated with an increased risk of in-hospital bleeding compared with no anticoagulant.