Resuming Anticoagulants Following ICH: Risky Business?

An observational study provides some data that can help inform clinical practice.

Patients with an intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) frequently have comorbid conditions such as artificial heart valves or atrial fibrillation (AF) that require the consideration of long-term anticoagulation. If and when to start anticoagulation in the setting of a previous ICH is a challenging decision. These authors enrolled 267 patients from 27 anticoagulation clinics who had experienced an ICH. More than 90% of patients were on vitamin K antagonists (VKA) at the time of the ICH. Patients had anticoagulation resumed for a variety of reasons, most commonly AF (45%) and artificial valves (one third).

During 778 patient-years of follow-up, 20 patients (7.5%) had a recurrent ICH a median of 16.5 months after the first ICH. The mean international n…

Reviewing Author

Seemant Chaturvedi, MD

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardBayer Pharmaceuticals; Novartis

Grant/Research SupportNational Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

Editorial BoardsNeurology; Stroke

Seemant Chaturvedi, MD

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardBayer Pharmaceuticals; Novartis

Grant/Research SupportNational Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

Editorial BoardsNeurology; Stroke

Resuming Anticoagulants Following ICH: Risky Business?

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Reviewing Author