Bridging with low-molecular-weight heparin is associated with worse outcomes after stroke in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation, results from two studies show.

Italian researchers reanalysed data from 1810 patients that had been enrolled in two prospective cohort studies investigating stroke recurrence after atrial fibrillation to compare outcomes according to whether or not they received bridging therapy and according to the type of oral anticoagulant initiated.

One in five patients underwent bridging therapy with low-molecular-weight heparin.

Oral anticoagulant therapy was initiated with warfarin in 32% of patients and with non-vitamin-K-antagonist oral anticoagulants (NOACs) in the remaining 68%, the researchers reported in Stroke.