Regular bleeding risk assessment associated with reduction in bleeding outcomes: The mAFA II randomised trial

Oral anticoagulants (OAC) are highly effective for the prevention of stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation.1,2 However, bleeding events are a detrimental side effect of OAC use, even despite the reduced risk of intracranial haemorrahge with the use of non–vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants (NOACs) with major bleeding rates at 2% to 4% and any bleeding of 11%-18% per year.3 Some of these bleeding events are non-clinically relevant bleeding, and overall there is a positive net clinical benefit for using OACs for stroke prevention for the majority of atrial fibrillation patients.