Spontaneous portosystemic shunts on CT scans in patients with cirrhosis were associated with higher mortality and risk of complications, including portal vein thrombosis, hepatic encephalopathy, an... Background Cirrhosis leads to portal hypertension and to the consequent formation of spontaneous portosystemic shunts (SPSSs), leading to complications related to the diversion of portal blood into...

Aims: To analyse the safety and efficacy of direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) in real-world studies including atrial fibrillation (AF) patients. Methods and results: Systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies including AF patients on DOACs. Primary endpoints: any, major, gastrointestinal (GI), intracranial haemorrhage (ICH), and haemorrhagic stroke (HS). Secondary endpoints: ischaemic stroke (IS), systemic embolism (SE), myocardial infarction (MI), and all-cause of death. A set of pair-wise meta-analyses using a random effect model and a random effect network meta-analysis under a Bayesian framework were performed. Prospero registration number: CRD42019137111. We included 21 studies with 605 771 AF patients. Apixaban was associated with lower major and GI bleeding compared with Rivaroxaban [hazard ratio (HR) 2.0, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.6–2.5] and Dabigatran (HR 1.6, 95% CI 1.3–2.1). The latter drug performed better than Rivaroxaban (HR 1.2, 95% CI 1.0–1.5). Dabigatran and Apixaban had a similar association with HS, but Apixaban performed better than Rivaroxaban (HR 1.8, 95% CI 1.1–3.0). Apixaban had a similar association with Rivaroxaban and Dabigatran for ICH, the latter drug performing better than Rivaroxaban (HR 1.3, 95% CI 1.0–1.7). Rankograms showed that Apixaban was likely to be the first-choice treatment in relation to any (65%) major (100%) and GI bleeding (100%) followed by Dabigatran (46%, 100%, 99%, respectively). Dabigatran and Apixaban had similar rank as first choice for ICH (44% and 55%) and HS (52% and 48%). DOACs showed similar association with IS/SE, MI, all-cause of death. Conclusions: Analysis of real-world studies shows significant differences for safety among DOACs.

In recent years, attention to subclinical atrial fibrillation (SCAF), defined as the presence of atrial high-rate episodes (AHREs), in patients with cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIEDs), has gained much interest as a determinant of clinical AF and stroke risk. We aim to perform a systematic review and meta-regression of the available scientific evidence regarding the epidemiology of SCAF in patients receiving CIEDs. PubMed and EMBASE were searched for all studies documenting the prevalence of AHREs in patients (n=100 or more, <50% with history of AF) with CIEDs from inception to 20th August 2021, screened by two independent blind reviewers. This study was registered in PROSPERO: CRD42019106994. Among the 2614 results initially retrieved, 54 studies were included, with a total of 72,784 patients. Meta-analysis of included studies showed a pooled prevalence of SCAF of 28.1% (95%CI: 24.3-32.1%), with high heterogeneity between studies (I²=98%). A multivariable meta-regression was able to explain significant proportion of heterogeneity (R²=61.9%, p<0.001), with age and follow-up time non-linearly, directly and independently associated with occurrence of SCAF. Older age, higher CHA₂DS₂-VASc score, history of AF, hypertension, CHF, and stroke/TIA were all associated with SCAF occurrence. In this systematic review and meta-regression analysis, SCAF was frequent among CIED recipients and was non-linearly associated with age and follow-up time. Older age, higher thromboembolic risk, and several cardiovascular comorbidities were associated with presence of SCAF.

Aims: Many clinical scores for risk stratification in patients with atrial fibrillation have been proposed, and some have been useful in predicting all-cause mortality. We aim to analyse the relationship between clinical risk score and all-cause death occurrence in atrial fibrillation patients. Methods: We performed a systematic search in PubMed and Scopus from inception to 22 July 2017. We considered the following scores: ATRIA-Stroke, ATRIA-Bleeding, CHADS ₂ , CHA ₂ DS ₂ -VASc, HAS-BLED, HATCH and ORBIT. Papers reporting data about scores and all-cause death rates were considered. Results: Fifty studies and 71 scores groups were included in the analysis, with 669,217 patients. Data on ATRIA-Bleeding, CHADS ₂ , CHA ₂ DS ₂ -VASc and HAS-BLED were available. All the scores were significantly associated with an increased risk for all-cause death. All the scores showed modest predictive ability at five years (c-indexes (95% confidence interval) CHADS ₂ : 0.64 (0.63–0.65), CHA ₂ DS ₂ -VASc: 0.62 (0.61–0.64), HAS-BLED: 0.62 (0.58–0.66)). Network meta-regression found no significant differences in predictive ability. CHA ₂ DS ₂ -VASc score had consistently high negative predictive value (≥94%) at one, three and five years of follow-up; conversely it showed the highest probability of being the best performing score (63% at one year, 60% at three years, 68% at five years). Conclusion: In atrial fibrillation patients, contemporary clinical risk scores are associated with an increased risk of all-cause death. Use of these scores for death prediction in atrial fibrillation patients could be considered as part of holistic clinical assessment. The CHA ₂ DS ₂ -VASc score had consistently high negative predictive value during follow-up and the highest probability of being the best performing clinical score.