Ophthalmic complications in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation and type 2 diabetes prescribed rivaroxaban or warfarin

• Published in: Europace (London, England) England), 2021-05, Vol.23 (Supplement_3)
• Main Authors: Costa, O, Ho, K, Caranfa, JT, Vardar, B, Abdelgawwad, K, Brescia, CW, Coleman, CI
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1099-5129; 1532-2092
• DOI: 10.1093/europace/euab116.280

Abstract Funding Acknowledgements Type of funding sources: Private company. Main funding source(s): Bayer AG Berlin, Germany INTRODUCTION Patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) are at an increased risk of ophthalmic complications compared to those without. Ophthalmic complications in T2D patients with comorbid nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) may include ophthalmic bleeding and/or diabetic retinopathy. PURPOSE We sought to evaluate ophthalmic complications in patients with NVAF and T2D prescribed rivaroxaban or warfarin for stroke prevention. METHODS Optum® de-identified electronic health record (EHR) data from 11/2010-3/2020 were utilized. Adults with NVAF and T2D, newly started on rivaroxaban or warfarin and with ≥12 months of prior EHR activity were included. Patients were excluded if they received any oral anticoagulation in the prior 12 months, had valvular disease or pre-existing diabetic retinopathy. Our primary outcome was the incidence rate of any ophthalmic complication including non-traumatic bleeding (choroidal, intraocular, retinal, vitreous) or diabetic retinopathy.  Ophthalmic bleeds typically associated with trauma (hyphema, orbital) were excluded from our outcomes.  Hazard ratios (HR) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using propensity score-overlap weighted Cox regression. RESULTS We included 26,537 rivaroxaban and 61,690 warfarin patients. The average age of patients was 69 ± 9 years, CHA2DS2VASc score was 4.1 ± 1.5 and HASBLED 1.5 ± 0.9. Thirty-two percent of patients had an a1c ≥7.0 and 16% an a1c≥8.0. Rivaroxaban was associated with a 15% (95%CI = 8-21%) relative hazard reduction of any ophthalmic complication (incidence rate = 1.25 vs. 1.46%/year) (Table), driven by reductions in both ophthalmic bleeding (HR = 0.80) and diabetic retinopathy (HR = 0.85). CONCLUSIONS Rivaroxaban was associated with a reduction in ophthalmic complications compared to warfarin. Table. Ophthalmic Complications Outcome Rivaroxaban, %/yearN = 26,537 Warfarin, %/yearN = 61,690 PS OLW HR (95%CI) Any Ophthalmic Complication 1.25 1.46 0.85 (0.79-0.92) Any Ophthalmic Bleed 0.15 0.19 0.80 (0.63-1.00) Choroidal Bleed 0.003 0.005 0.59 (0.11-3.17) Intraocular Bleed 0.01 0.01 0.75 (0.26-2.13) Retinal Bleed 0.08 0.09 0.93 (0.68-1.28) Vitreous Bleed 0.07 0.10 0.66 (0.47-0.92) Any Type of Diabetic Retinopathy 1.15 1.34 0.85 (0.79-0.93) Diabetic Retinopathy, non-proliferative 0.35 0.44 0.80 (0.69-0.93) Diabetic Retinopathy, proliferative 0.09 0.12 0.7