Selección del tratamiento anticoagulante óptimo para el paciente con fibrilación auricular y diabetes o enfermedad renal crónica: papel del rivaroxabán

Both diabetes mellitus and chronic kidney disease increase the risk of atrial fibrillation. In turn, the coexistence of diabetes and chronic kidney disease synergistically increases the thromboembolic risk associated with atrial fibrillation, which puts affected patients at a particularly high risk and makes it necessary to focus treatment not only on reducing the risk of embolism but also on providing more general prophylaxis. Although all oral anticoagulants are effective in reducing the risk of stroke in diabetic patients with atrial fibrillation, there are indications that rivaroxaban could also reduce cardiovascular mortality in this population, thereby providing additional benefits. Moreover, it has been reported that renal function deteriorates on vitamin K antagonist treatment (i.e. warfarin-related nephropathy). Consequently, the ideal anticoagulant treatment would decrease the risk of thromboembolic complications without also being associated with impaired renal function. In this context, it appears that some direct oral anticoagulants, such as dabigatran and rivaroxaban, may have a lower risk of adverse renal events than warfarin.