Introduction: Heart failure (HF) and atrial fibrillati-on (AF) coincide in many patients. The bond between these two conditions is sealed by the shared similar risk factors and common pathophysiology.
Purpose: The objective of our study is to assess the ma-nagement in AF in HF patients.
Methods: A total of 434 patients admitted consecuti-vely in our clinic with diagnosis of AF and HF were evaluated during hospitalization. Baseline characteris-tics and clinical outcomes were extracted. The patients were divided in two groups: valvular and non-valvular AF.
Results: The mean age of our studied group (263 eligi-ble patients with non-valvular AF and HF) was 73.79 years with a SD of 10.487 (p=0.000). At discharge, in the non- valvular AF group, 50.2% have beta-blockers prescribed, 42.6% angiotensin converting enzyme in-hibitors, 23.6% angiotensin II receptor blockers, 31.9% on digoxin, 20.9% on calcium antagonists, 81.4% on diuretics, 32.3% on aspirin, 45.6% statins, 29.7% anti-arrhythmic agents. More than one third of the patients in our study group have a non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulant (NOAC) prescription: 15.6% used Dabigatran, 14.1% take Apixaban, and 8.4% are on Ri-varoxaban, proving once more the underutilization of NOAC.
Conclusions: The NOAC use in non valvular AF in HF patients, in our country tends to have an ascending pat-tern, proving a better compliance of patients prescrip-tion and a better adherence to guidelines recommen-dation.