Study on efficiency and safety of adjusted-dose Warfarin in preventing ischemic stroke of patients with non valvular atrial fibrillation

Objectives To study the efficiency and safety of adjusted-dose Warfarin in preven- ting ischemic stroke of patients with non valvular atrial fibrillation.Methods 79 patients diagnosed as non valvular atrial fibrillation in our hospital from January 2004 to October 2006 were randomly divided in- to two groups:Warfarin group and control group.38 cases were in adjusted-dose warfarin group(interna- tional normalized ratio,2～3)and took anticoagulants Warfarin from 1.5 mg/d to 3.5 mg/d;41 cases were in control group and treated without the anticoagulants,and all the patients were treated with routine treatment.The incidence of isehemic stroke was worked out.Results Number of ischemic strokes in group Warfarin was 3(7.8%),in control group was 10(25%),the incidence of ischemic stroke were more higher in control group than in Warfarin group(P0.05),and relative risk of the ischemic stroke decreased by 68.8% in Warfarin group.There was 5 patients with bleeding in Warfarin group:1 cases was cerebral hemorrhage,2 cases subcutaneous hemorrhage and 2 cases gum bleeding.Only 1 cases with bleeding in control group was gum bleeding.Bleeding rate was higher in Warfarin group than in control group(13.2% vs 2.4%,P0.05).All the major bleeding events occurred in the patients with INR above 3.0.Conclusion Under intensive monitoring,adjusted-dose Warfarin is effective and safe in pre- venting ischemic stroke of patients with non valvular atrial fibrillation.