Anticoagulation with Edoxaban in Patients with Atrial High-Rate Episodes- N Engl J Med .
Device-detected atrial high-rate episodes (AHREs) are atrial arrhythmias detected by implanted cardiac devices. AHREs resemble atrial fibrillation but are rare and brief. Whether the occurrence of AHREs in patients without atrial fibrillation (as documented on a conventional electrocardiogram [ECG]) justifies the initiation of anticoagulants is not known.We conducted an event-driven, double-blind, double-dummy, randomized trial involving patients 65 years of age or older who had AHREs lasting for at least 6 minutes and who had at least one additional risk factor for stroke. Patients were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to receive edoxaban or placebo. The primary efficacy outcome was a composite of cardiovascular death, stroke, or systemic embolism, evaluated in a time-to-event analysis. The safety outcome was a composite of death from any cause or major bleeding.
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Economic burden of cardiovascular diseases in the European Union: a population-based cost study -EHJ
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) impacts significantly health and social care systems as well as society through premature mortality and disability, with patients requiring care from relatives. Previous pan- European estimates of the economic burden of CVD are now outdated. This study aims to provide novel, up-to-date evidence on the economic burden across the 27 European Union (EU) countries in 2021.Aggregate country-specific resource use data on morbidity, mortality, and health, social and informal care were obtained from international sources, such as the Statistical Office of the European Communities, enhanced by data from the European Society of Cardiology Atlas programme and patient-level data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe. Country-specific unit costs were used, with cost estimates reported on a per capita basis, after adjustment for price differentials.