Dabigatran Versus Warfarin for Atrial Fibrillation in Real-World Clinical Practice

In real-world clinical practice, dabigatran is comparable with warfarin in preventing ischemic stroke among patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation. However, dabigatran is associated with a lower risk for intracranial bleeding relative to warfarin, but-particularly among the elderly-a greater risk for gastrointestinal bleeding. Bleeding outcomes from observational studies are consistent with those from the pivotal Randomized Evaluation of Long-Term Anticoagulation Therapy trial.