Daiichi Sankyo extends the PREFER in AF patient registry

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Daiichi Sankyo announced its commitment to extend the Prevention of thromboembolic events – European Registry in Atrial Fibrillation (PREFER in AF). The extension of the registry will include a specific focus on the use of novel oral anticoagulant therapy including prescribing patterns, providing new insight into the long-term management of patients with atrial fibrillation.

The PREFER in AF registry was initially conducted in seven European countries with over 7,000 patients to gain detailed insight into the characteristics and management of atrial fibrillation, with a focus on the prevention of thromboembolic events, and in particular, stroke. Baseline results released at EHRA EUROPACE in June 2013, illustrated recent changes in the management of atrial fibrillation and some uptake of novel oral anticoagulants following their inclusion in the updated ESC guidelines. This extension to the registry will collect additional up to date real life data from approximately 5,000 patients across more than 320 centres in nine European countries, including the addition of two new countries; Belgium and The Netherlands.


“Despite the introduction of a number of new oral anticoagulants there remains a lack of data on current management of atrial fibrillation patients in clinical practice settings. The PREFER in AF registry enables us to observe and understand different anticoagulation treatment patterns, giving us a valuable and much needed insight into the long-term management of patients with atrial fibrillation and specifically the use of novel oral anticoagulants,” explains Paulus Kirchhof, chair in Cardiovascular Medicine, University of Birmingham and chair of the PREFER in AF Steering Committee. “It is critical that patients with atrial fibrillation who are at risk of experiencing stroke and thromboembolism maintain effective anticoagulation – and this extended registry will provide vital data to support clinicians with their prescribing decisions.”


The extended registry places a special focus on the use of novel oral anticoagulants and corresponding treatment patterns; including the reasons for switching atrial fibrillation patients to novel oral anticoagulants from vitamin K antagonists (VKAs). Vitamin K antagonists, such as warfarin, are the current standard of care but require frequent monitoring and dose adaptation to keep patients within therapeutic range. For patients with atrial fibrillation who are at risk of experiencing stroke and thromboembolism, it is critical to maintain effective anticoagulation.