Dabigatran for stroke prevention in real life in a sample of population from Turkey: D-SPIRIT registry

Objective: The D-SPIRIT registry is designed to investigate the safety and effectiveness of dabigatran etexilate in patients with atrial fibrillation in routine clinical practice. Methods: D-SPIRIT is the first national, multicenter, prospective, observational, postmarketing registry that investigates the usage of dabigatran in real life. A total of 326 noveloral anticoagulant-eligible patients with atrial fibrillation who have been taking dabigatran etexilate therapy for stroke prevention at least 6 months from 9 different centers were enrolled into the registry. Patients were followed up for 2 years to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of the treatment. All adverse clinical events including bleeding, thromboembolic events, stroke, systemic embolism, transient ischemic attack, myocardial infarction, and all-cause death were recorded. Results: The mean age was 71.1 +/- 9.6 years, and 57.4% of the study participants were female. The mean CHA(2)DS(2)-VASc (congestive heart failure, hypertension, age >= 75 years, diabetes mellitus, stroke or transient ischemic attack [TIA], vascular disease, age 65-74 years, sex category) score was 3.4 +/- 1.6. The cumulative adverse clinical events rate was 6.30% per year. The rate for embolic events including TIA, ischemic stroke, and peripheral embolism was 1.26% per year. The rate for major bleeding was 2.20% per year, and the mortality rate was 0.94% per year. Conclusion: This registry obtained an important overview of the current safety and effectiveness of the dabigatran etexilate in Turkey. Our results indicate similar rates of thromboembolic and bleeding events with pivotal phase 3 trial and other real-life registries. However, rate of undertreatment usage of dabigatran etexilate in real life was found to be considerable.