Relationship between creatinine clearance and clinical outcomes in Chinese emergency patients with atrial fibrillation

Abstract

Background: Few real-world data on the relation between creatinine clearance (CrCl) and adverse clinical outcomes in Chinese emergency department (ED) patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (AF).

Methods: In this prospective, observational, multicenter AF study, enrolled AF patients presenting to an ED at 20 hospitals in China from November 2008 to October 2011, with a follow-up of 12 month. A total of 863 AF patients with CrCl data were analyzed, and patients were categorized as CrCl ≥ 80, 50 ≤ CrCl < 80, 30 ≤ CrCl < 50, and CrCl < 30(ml/min). Outcomes of analyses were all-cause death, cardiovascular death, thromboembolism (TE), and major bleeding.

Results: Among the whole patients, 126(14.6%) patients died during 12-month follow-up, 53(40.2%) among CrCl < 30 ml/min group, and 48(16.2%), 22(6.5%), and 3(3.2%) among 30 ≤ CrCl50, 50 ≤ Crl < 80, and CrCl ≥ 80 ml/min groups, respectively (p < 0.001). Cardiovascular death and TE rates also increased with decreasing CrCl. On multivariate analysis, patients with CrCl < 30 ml/min were associated with higher risks of all-cause death (HR 5.567; 95%CI1.618-19.876; p = .007) and higher cardiovascular death (HR11.939; 95%CI1.439-99.031; p = .022) as compared with CrCl≥80 ml/min category. Nevertheless, for TE and major bleeding risk, CrCl groups showed no significant difference after adjustment for variables in CHA₂ DS₂ -VASc score and status of warfarin prescription in our cohort.

Conclusions: In Chinese ED nonvalvular AF patients, incidence rates of death increased with reducing CrCl across the whole range of renal function. CrCl < 30 ml/min was associated with all-cause death, cardiovascular death, but not for TE and major bleeding.

Keywords: atrial fibrillation; creatinine clearance; death; emergency; major bleeding; thromboembolism.