Cardiovascular Risk Reduction in Atrial Fibrillation Trial
Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a serious public health problem because of its increasing incidence and prevalence in the aging population. AF is associated with elevated risks of death, stroke, coronary event, heart failure, cognitive decline, and chronic kidney disease. To identify preventive interventions for major cardiovascular events beyond effective anticoagulation should be a major priority in the treatment of AF patients. The CRAFT study is a 2-arm, multicenter, randomized clinical trial designed to test whether intensive blood pressure control will reduce the risk of major cardiovascular events in AF patients.
• Adults, ≥18 years old
• Documented AF: persistent atrial fibrillation or at least two episodes of intermittent atrial fibrillation in the previous 6 months.
• Home SBP 125-154 mmHg, defined as average of all SBP readings (at least 3 readings 1 min apart in the morning before taking antihypertensive drugs and evening before going to sleep) during the run-in assessment.
• One or more cardiovascular risk factors: (1) Prior history of thromboembolism: defined as any of the following criteria: a) ischemic stroke; b) transient ischemic attack (TIA); c) systemic embolism (SE); (2) Diabetes mellitus (DM): defined as any of the following criteria: a) use of oral hypoglycemic drugs or insulin; b) random blood glucose values ≥11.1 mmol/L in the presence of classic symptoms of hyperglycemia; c) fasting plasma glucose values ≥7.0 mmol/L; d) two-hour plasma glucose values ≥11.1 mmol/L during an oral glucose tolerance test; e) HbA1C values ≥6.5%; (3) Coronary artery disease or Peripheral artery disease: defined as any of the following criteria: a) Previous myocardial infarction (MI), percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), carotid endarterectomy (CE), carotid stenting; b) Peripheral artery disease (PAD) with revascularization; c) Acute coronary syndrome with or without resting ECG change, ECG changes on a graded exercise test, or positive cardiac imaging study; d) At least a 50% diameter stenosis of a coronary, carotid, or lower extremity artery; e) Abdominal aortic aneurysm ≥5 cm with or without repair; (4) Chronic kidney disease (CKD): defined as estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) 30-59ml/min/1.73m2 based on the latest lab value within the past 6 months; (5) Age ≥65 years old