The association between dyslipidaemia treatment and the risk of clinical events in edoxaban-treated patients with atrial fibrillation: insights from the 2-year follow-up of ETNA-AF-Europe

Abstract Background/Introduction Dyslipidaemia is a major risk factor for cardiovascular (CV) events. This increased risk can be attenuated with lipid-lowering therapies (LLT), such as statins, which are associated with a relative risk reduction of CV events of 22% for each 1 mmol/L reduction in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Purpose To explore the association between use of LLT and clinical outcomes in routine practice patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) receiving edoxaban. Methods ETNA-AF-Europe is a prospective, multi-centre, post-authorisation, observational cohort study conducted in 825 centres, enrolling routine practice patients with AF treated with edoxaban in 10 European countries. This registry is still ongoing and patients are to be followed-up annually for 4 years after enrollment. In the current sub-study, on the now available first 2 years of follow-up, patients were categorised by use of LLT at baseline. We used Cox proportional hazards models to determine the associations between LLT use and adverse clinical events, including the composite of any stroke and systemic embolic events (SEE), major bleeding, and death, after adjusting for confounding factors at baseline. Results Of 13,133 patients with AF, 36.3% (n=4761) used LLT at baseline. Among those receiving LLT, 90.7% received statins only and 3.6% received combination therapy with a statin. Most patients in both treatment groups were 65 years or older and had one or more CV-risk factors aside from a history of AF. Patients receiving LLT were older and had a higher prevalence of CV co-morbidities (including diabetes, hypertension, peripheral artery disease and coronary heart disease) than those who did not receive LLT (Table 1). After correction for confounders, treatment with LLT was associated with a significantly lower rate of any stroke or SEE (HR: 0.61; 95% CI: 0.42–0.88), ischaemic stroke (HR: 0.54; 95% CI: 0.35–0.83), all-cause death (HR: 0.73; 95% CI: 0.63–0.85) and CV-death (HR: 0.73; 95% CI: 0.60–0.90), but not with bleeding events or myocardial infarction (Figure 1). Conclusion These findings suggest a protective effect of LLT on the risk of stroke in anticoagulated patients with AF, although an overall better CV risk management in these patients probably contributed to this reduced risk. Notably, both mono- and combination-LLT were seemingly underused in our cohort, highlighting the potential for further reductions of CV risks in the AF patients seen in our clinics. Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding sources: Private company. Main funding source(s): This research was funded by Daiichi Sankyo Europe.