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About GARFIELD
<\/strong>The GARFIELD Registry is an observational, multicentre, international prospective study of men and women with newly diagnosed AF and one or more additional risk factors for stroke. It will prospectively follow 50,000 newly-diagnosed AF patients from at least 1,000 centres in 50 countries in the Americas, Eastern and Western Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia.<\/p>\r\n

GARFIELD is the largest prospective registry of patients with AF at risk of stroke. It seeks to describe the real-life burden of this disease, and provide insights into the impact of thromboembolic and bleeding complications seen in this patient population. It will provide a better understanding of antithrombotic treatment patterns and potential opportunities for improving care and clinical outcomes amongst a representative and diverse group of patients and distinctive populations. This should help physicians and healthcare systems to appropriately adopt innovation to ensure the best outcomes for patients and populations. <\/p>\r\n

The registry started in December 2009. Four key design features of the GARFIELD protocol ensure a comprehensive and representative description of AF:<\/p>\r\n

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Five sequential cohorts of prospective, newly-diagnosed patients, facilitating comparisons of discrete time periods and describing the evolution of treatments and outcomes. <\/li>\r\n
Investigator sites that are selected randomly within carefully assigned national AF care setting distributions, ensuring that the enrolled patient population is representative. <\/li>\r\n
Enrolment of consecutive eligible patients regardless of therapy to eliminate potential selection bias. <\/li>\r\n
Follow-up data captured for a minimum of 2 and up to 8 years after diagnosis, to create a comprehensive database of treatment decisions and outcomes in everyday clinical practice. <\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n
Included patients have been diagnosed with non-valvular AF within the past six weeks and have at least one additional risk factor for stroke, and as such, are candidates for anticoagulant therapy to prevent blood clots leading to stroke. It will be left to the investigator's clinical judgment to identify patient's stroke risk factor(s). Patients will be included whether or not they receive anticoagulant therapy so current and future treatment strategies and failures can be properly understood in relation to patients' risk profiles and co-morbidities.<\/p>\r\n
Data will be collected over an extended follow-up period of up to 8 years, and will include the following outcomes: thromboembolic stroke; TIA (\"mini-strokes\"); MI\/ACS; blood clots affecting other areas of the body; bleeding events; therapy persistence; rate of discontinuation; medical consultations and hospitalizations; need for urgent and elective interventions; cardiovascular morbidity and all-cause mortality.<\/p>\r\n
Among patients treated with vitamin K antagonists, additional outcomes data will include the frequency and timing of monitoring required to maintain a safe and therapeutically effective level of anticoagulation and interventions needed to manage complications due to anticoagulation therapy.<\/p>\r\n
The GARFIELD Registry is made possible through an unrestricted research grant from Bayer Pharma AG.<\/p>\r\n
The Burden of AF
<\/strong>Up to 2% of the global population has AF. Over 6 million Europeans suffer from this arrhythmia, and it is estimated that its prevalence will at least double by 2050 as the population ages. Around 4.5 million people in the European Union and 2.6 million people in the United States have AF, and estimates suggest that by 2014 more than 12 million people in the Asia-Pacific region will have AF.(1,2,3,4) AF confers a 5-fold increase in the risk of stroke, and one in five of all strokes is attributed to this arrhythmia. Ischaemic strokes in association with AF are often fatal, and those patients who survive are left more frequently and more severely disabled and more likely to suffer a recurrence than patients with other causes of stroke. In consequence, the risk of death from AF-related stroke is doubled and the cost of care is increased by 50%.(5) The condition occurs when parts of the atria emit uncoordinated electrical signals that cause the chambers to pump too quickly and irregularly, not allowing blood to be pumped out completely.(6) As a result, blood may pool, clot and lead to thrombosis, which is the number one killer in both the developed and developing world.<\/p>\r\n
If a blood clot leaves the left atrium, then it could potentially lodge in an artery in other parts of the body, particularly in the brain. A blood clot in an artery in the brain leads to a stroke. Ninety-two per cent of fatal strokes are caused by thromboses.(7) People with AF also are at high risk for heart failure, chronic fatigue and other heart rhythm problems.(8,9) Stroke is a major cause of long-term disability worldwide -- each year 5 million sufferers are left permanently disabled.(10)<\/p>\r\n
About the Thrombosis Research Institute (TRI)
<\/strong>TRI is a charitable foundation and multi-disciplinary research institute dedicated to the study of thrombosis and related disorders. TRI's mission is to provide excellence in thrombosis research and education; to develop new strategies to prevent and treat thrombosis; and thereby improve quality of care, advance clinical outcomes and reduce healthcare costs. The TRI is a member of University College London Partners Academic Health Science System.<\/p>\r\n
For more information, visit http:\/\/www.tri-london.ac.uk\/garfield<\/a>.  <\/p>\r\n
* <\/em><\/strong> HR = Hazard Ratio, which is a measure of how often an event occurs (i.e., death) in one group vs. another<\/em><\/p>\r\n
(1) Jamil-Copley S, Kanagaratnam P. Stroke in atrial fibrillation-hope on the horizon? J R SOC INTERFACE. 8\/16\/13. Available at: http:\/\/rsif.royalsocietypublishing.org\/content\/7\/Suppl_6\/S765.full<\/a><\/a>   (2) The Lancet Neurology. Stroke prevention: getting to the heart of the matter. 8\/16\/13. Available at: http:\/\/www.atrialfibrillation.org.uk\/files\/file\/Articles_Medical\/Lancet%20Neurology-%20getting%20to%20the%20heart%20of%20the%20matter.pdf<\/a><\/a>
(3) Thrombosis Advisor. Thrombosis Facts. 8\/16\/13.
(4) Chinese Medical Journal 2004; 117 (12): 1763-176. Available at: http:\/\/dronedarone-atrial-fibrillation-pressoffice.com\/sites\/default\/files\/event-document\/af_in_the_asia-pacific_region.pdf<\/a><\/a>
(5) European Society of Cardiology. Guidelines for the Management of Atrial Fibrillation. 8\/16\/13. http:\/\/eurheartj.oxfordjournals.org\/content\/early\/2010\/09\/25\/eurheartj.ehq278.full<\/a><\/a>
(6) National Heart Lung and Blood Institute. What is Atrial Fibrillation. 8\/16\/13. Available at: http:\/\/www.nhlbi.nih.gov\/health\/dci\/Diseases\/af\/af_what.html<\/a><\/a>
(7) Thrombosis Research Institute. About Thrombosis. 8\/16\/13. Available at: http:\/\/www.tri-london.ac.uk\/about.asp<\/a><\/a>
(8) Rockson SG, Albers GW. Comparing the guidelines: anticoagulation therapy to optimize stroke prevention in patients with atrial fibrillation. J Am Coll Cardiol 2004; 43(6):929-35.
(9) American Heart Association. Why is AF a problem?. 8\/16\/13. Available at: http:\/\/www.heart.org\/HEARTORG\/Conditions\/Arrhythmia\/AboutArrhythmia\/Why-is-AF-a-Problem_UCM_423776_Article.jsp<\/a><\/a>.
(10) World Heart Foundation. The Global Burden of Stroke. 8\/16\/13. Available at: http:\/\/www.world-heart-federation.org\/cardiovascular-health\/stroke\/<\/a><\/p>"]; $("#dvExtra").html(content_array[0]);})();