BRIDGE - Peri-procedure bridging of anticoagulation of AF patients on warfarin

in

Douketis JD, et al. Perioperative bridging anticoagulation in patients with atrial fibrillation. NEJM 2015;373:823-33.

Bottom line: In patients with AF & CHADS2 score <4 requiring interruption of warfarin, bridging with parenteral anticoagulation increases major bleeding (NNH 53 from bridging) without reducing thromboembolic events.

Patients (n=1884)

  • Randomized 1884, analyzed 1813

  • Included

    • Atrial fibrillation or flutter (paroxysmal or permanent) confirmed by EKG or pacemaker interrogation

    • Non-valvular or valvular AF both eligible

    • CHADS2 score 1 or higher

    • Receiving warfarin for 3+ months with INR 2.0-3.0

    • Undergoing elective invasive procedure felt to require interruption of warfarin

  • Excluded

    • Mechanical heart valve

    • Recent stroke, systemic embolism or TIA (in past 12 weeks) or major bleeding (in past 6 weeks)

    • CrCl <30 mL/min

    • Platelets <100

    • Planned cardiac, brain or spine surgery

  • Baseline characteristics

    • Age 72 y, male (73%), white (91%)

    • CHADS2 score

      • Mean score 2.3

      • 1 (23%), 2 (40%), 3 (24%), 4 (10%), 5 (3%), 6 (<1%)

      • HF/LV dysfunction ~33%

      • HTN 87%

      • Diabetes 41%

      • Prior stroke 8%

      • Prior TIA 8%

      • MI 15%

    • Undergoing procedure classified as having low bleeding risk 89%

    • Labs: INR 2.4, CrCl 88 mL/min

    • Concomitant ASA ~35%

Intervention & comparator

  • I: No bridging

    • Warfarin stopped 5 days before the procedure & restarted evening of surgery or POD 1, without bridging

  • C: Anticoagulant bridging

    • Warfarin stopped 5 days before the procedure & restarted POD0 evening or POD 1

    • Pre-op bridging: Dalteparin 100 units/kg subcut BID started 3 days before the procedure, last dose AM day before procedure (~24h before)

    • Post-op bridging: Dalteparin restarted 12-24h after low-bleeding-risk procedure & 48-72h after high-bleeding-risk procedure; continued x5-10 days until INR 2 or higher once

  • Adherence in both groups was ~86% pre-op & 96% post-op

Results @ day 30-37

  • Not bridging was non-inferior to bridging for the primary efficacy outcome (arterial thromboembolism; a composite of ischemic/hemorrhagic stroke, TIA, systemic embolism)

    • Intention-to-treat (ITT) population: No bridging 04.%, bridging 0.3% (difference 0.1%, 95% confidence interval [95%CI] -0.6% to +0.8%)

      • Stroke: 0.2% vs 0.3%

    • Per-protocol population: 0.3% vs 0.4% (difference 0.0%; 95% CI -0.7% to +0.7%)

  • Not bridging reduced the risk of major bleeding (ITT population): 1.3% vs 3.2% (NNT 53)

    • Minor bleeding: 12.0% vs 20.9% (NNT 12)

  • No difference in all-cause mortality: 0.5% vs 0.4%

Internal validity

  • Low risk of allocation, performance & detection bias

    • Interactive voice-response system

    • Dalteparin & matching placebo in identical vials

    • Blinded adjudication of all outcomes

  • Possible attrition bias due to moderate loss-to-follow-up (3.8%), which is higher than the rate of primary outcome events

  • Non-inferiority trial

    • Non-inferiority margin set as an absolute difference of 1.0% for arterial thromboembolism (wide);

    • Assumed ~1.0% absolute risk of arterial thromboembolism in both groups (actual event rate <1/2 expected);

    • Analysis of both ITT & per-protocol populations, which were nearly identical.