Efficacy and safety of apixaban across body weight spectrums

Despite some guidelines that caution against the use of non–vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants for people who weight >120 kg or ≤60 kg,  because of a lack of data, a recent post-hoc analysis of the ARISTOTLE study (Apixaban for Reduction in Stroke and Other Thromboembolic Events in Atrial Fibrillation study that involved some 18 201 subjects in a randomized trial comparing apixaban with warfarin for the prevention of stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation, revealed that the treatment effect of apixaban versus warfarin for the efficacy outcomes of stroke/systemic embolism, all-cause death, or myocardial infarction was consistent across the weight spectrum (interaction P value>0.05). As far safety, with respect to major bleeding, apixaban had a better safety profile than warfarin in all weight categories and even showed a greater relative risk reduction in patients in the low  and mid-range (>60–120 kg) weight groups.