Subclinical atrial fibrillation: Implications of recent trials for guideline updates?

Table 1 Comparison of key attributes of two recent randomized controlled trials on use of oral anticoagulation in subclinical atrial fibrillation

	ARTESIA	NOAH AFNET 6
Population size	4012	2536
SCAF duration	6 minutes-24 hours	> 6 minutes
Longest duration of SCAF (median)	1.5 hours	2.8 hours
Drug used	Apixaban 5 mg BD	Edoxaban 60 mg OD
Comparator	Aspirin	Aspirin/placebo
Mean CHA2DS2VaSc score	3.9 ± 1.1	4
Mean age (years)	76 ± 7.6	78
Females (%)	36.1	37.4
Follow up (years)	3.5 ± 1.8	1.8
Primary efficacy end point	Stroke or SE (intention-to-treat analysis)	Cardiovascular death, stroke, or SE (time-to-event analysis)
Primary safety end point	Major bleeding	Death from any cause or major bleeding
Trial completion	Completed	Premature termination

SE: Atrial fibrillation; SCAF: Subclinical atrial fibrillation.