The Efficacy and Safety of Non-vItamiN K antaGonist oraL Anticoagulants for intermEdiate Stroke Risk in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation (SINGLE-AF)

Composite outcome including stroke/systemic embolism, major bleeding, and cardiovascular death

Ischemic stroke specifically refers to central nervous system infarction (brain, spinal cord, or retinal cell death attributable to ischemia) accompanied by overt symptoms, while silent infarction by definition causes no known symptoms. Stroke also broadly includes intracerebral hemorrhage and subarachnoid hemorrhage.

Systemic embolism refers to emboli in the arterial circulation, and defined by both clinical and objective evidence of sudden loss of end-organ perfusion.

The International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis (ISTH)/Scientific and Standardization Committee (SSC) definitions and bleeding assessment tool are useful for standardizing the reporting of bleeding symptoms.

• Fatal bleeding. and/or 2. Symptomatic bleeding in a critical area or organ, such as intracranial, intraspinal, intraocular, retroperitoneal, intraarticular or pericardial, or intramuscular with compartment syndrome. and/or 3. Bleeding causing a fall in hemoglobin level of 2 g/dL (1.24 mmol/L) or more, or leading to transfusion of two or more units of whole blood or red cells.

Death due to myocardial infarction, sudden cardiac death, heart failure, stroke, cardiovascular procedures, cardiovascular hemorrhage, and any case of death in which a cardiovascular cause cannot be excluded as adjudicated by a clinical events committee.

• Any sign or symptom of hemorrhage (e.g., more bleeding than would be expected for a clinical circumstance, including bleeding found by imaging alone) that does not fit the criteria for the ISTH definition of major bleeding but does meet at least one of the following criteria: i. requiring medical intervention by a healthcare professional ii. leading to hospitalization or increased level of care iii. prompting a face to face (i.e., not just a telephone or electronic communication) evaluation 2. ISTH major bleeding in non-surgical patients is defined as having a symptomatic presentation and 1: i. Fatal bleeding, and/or ii. Bleeding in a critical area or organ, such as intracranial, intraspinal, intraocular, retroperitoneal, intra-articular or pericardial, or intramuscular with compartment syndrome, and/or iii. Bleeding causing a fall in hemoglobin level of 20 g L-1 (1.24 mmol L-1) or more, or leading to transfusion of two or more units of whole blood or red cells.

The permanent stopping of all the vital bodily activities

TIA is brief episodes of neurological dysfunction resulting from focal cerebral ischemia not associated with permanent cerebral infarction.

The definition of myocardial infarction (MI) was based on the Third Universal MI definition

Hospital admission means admission of a covered person to a hospital as an inpatient for medically necessary and appropriate care and treatment of an Illness or Injury.