Noticias

Noticias

  • Título: The new NICE Quality Standard on Atrial Fibrillation
  • Fecha: 09-07-2015

  • The new NICE Quality Standard on Atrial Fibrillation (AF) states that adults with AF should be prescribed suitable anticoagulation instead of aspirin for the prevention of stroke1. This is good news for patients as the new standard will drive measurable quality improvements in the treatment and management of AF, and, most importantly, this should reduce the number of AF-related strokes.

    Preventing AF-related stroke should be a national priority as this will save lives and reduce costs in NHS and social care. Patients deserve to be offered effective treatments to help prevent this type of stroke.

    AF is the most common type of irregular heartbeat affecting up to 800,000 people in the UK2. If you have AF you are 5 times more likely to have a stroke or thromboembolism (blood clot) than those without the condition.3 Approximately 12,500 strokes per year are attributable to AF . These AF-related strokes are usually more severe and result in higher levels of disability and death than stroke due to other causes4.

    AF-related strokes may be prevented by the use of effective anticoagulation. However, alternative anticoagulants approved by NICE and the SMC that can help achieve this are not routinely being prescribed to patients. This means that some patients are not receiving optimal anticoagulation. Despite NICE and SMC deciding that alternative anticoagulants are cost and clinically effective, doctors are deterred from using them because of management decisions to restrict use.

    Boehringer Ingelheim would like to see the timely and consistent implementation of NICE and SMC guidelines by all local health economies so that doctors can have the choice to prescribe the most appropriate treatment for their patients. This new Quality Standard is an important step towards achieving this, and so should lead to better care for AF patients.

    REFERENCES
    1. NICE. Atrial fibrillation: treatment and management. Available at http://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/qs93/resources/guidance-atrial-fibrillation-treatment-and-management-pdf (accessed July 2015)
    2. NHS Choices. Atrial Fibrillation. Available at http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/atrial-fibrillation/Pages/Introduction.aspx (accessed June 2015)
    3. NOACs: Innovation in anticoagulation – Optimising the prevention of AF-related stroke. Available at http://www.atrialfibrillation.org.uk/files/file/Publications/140401-ar-1-NOACs%20Innovation%20in%20anticoagulation%20report.pdf (accessed July 2015)
    4. Lin H-J et al. Stroke severity in atrial fibrillation. The Framingham Study. Stroke 1996;27:1760-64

    Date of Preparation: July 2015
    Job Bag Number: UK/CVS-151020



  • Fuente: endovascular.es