BAFTA: Warfarin bests aspirin for stroke prevention in elderly AF patients
Glasgow, Scotland - Results of the Birmingham Atrial Fibrillation Treatment of the Aged (BAFTA) trial show that even among elderly patients with atrial fibrillation (AF), anticoagulation with warfarin was superior to aspirin for primary stroke prevention [1].
The benefit of treatment was not at the cost of more major hemorrhage, the rates of which were similar between groups. The results were presented here at the 16th European Stroke Conference.
"Use of anticoagulation rather than aspirin in over-75s in our study will prevent one primary event for every 50 patients treated for a year, or 25 treated for two years," Dr Jonathan W Mant (University of Birmingham, UK) told attendees here. "Our conclusion is that warfarin could be safely used much more widely in the elderly than it is at the moment, and age itself should not be regarded as a contraindication to warfarin therapy."
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