Sanofi-aventis Launches Major New Registry Including Over 10,000 Patients Worldwide With Atrial Fibr

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MEDIA RELEASE PR37116


Sanofi-aventis Launches Major New Registry Including Over 10,000 Patients Worldwide

With Atrial Fibrillation


PARIS, Nov. 17 /PRNewswire-AsiaNet/ --


    

    - The RealiseAF Registry Will Help to Better Define and Understand the 

Cardiovascular Risk Profile of AF Patients and Characterize Their 

Cardiovascular Outcomes


    Sanofi-aventis (EURONEXT: SAN and NYSE: SNY) announced today

the launch of the RealiseAF registry (Real Life global Survey Evaluating

patients with Atrial Fibrillation), an international, cross-sectional,

observational registry that will be conducted in patients with atrial

fibrillation (AF). This disease can worsen patients' prognosis, increase the

risk of hospitalization, stroke and mortality. RealiseAF will provide a

real-life picture of the global burden of AF in more than 10,000 patients in

27 countries.


    "Sanofi-aventis is a major contributor to the efforts to

reduce the public health burden of atrial fibrillation," said Jean-Pierre

Lehner, Chief Medical Officer, sanofi-aventis. "The company strives to

respond to the medical needs of patients and physicians, not only with

innovative therapeutic solutions, but also via investment in registries such

as RealiseAF, dedicated to furthering the understanding of the risk profiles

of patients with atrial fibrillation."


    RealiseAF is designed to assess the control of atrial

fibrillation (AF) and investigate the CV risk profile of a broad spectrum of

AF populations in Europe, Latin America, Asia, Middle East and North Africa.

This new registry is intended to generate new data on a broad AF population

including patients with paroxysmal, persistent as well as permanent atrial

fibrillation, AF due to transient causes. It will provide a better

understanding of this disease and associated CV consequences, which may help

to further improve the burden of AF.


    "RealiseAF will provide more data to help physicians to

understand the true impact of AF, its burden and how to improve outcomes,"

said Professor G. Steg, Department of Cardiology, Hopital Bichat, Paris,

France, on behalf of the RealiseAF steering committee. "This study will give

us a unique picture both globally and locally about the AF patient population

and how patients are managed."


    RealiseAF was designed to complement the results of the

RecordAF registry (Registry on Cardiac Rhythm Disorders, an international,

observational, prospective survey assessing the control of Atrial

Fibrillation), presented during the late breaking session of the American

Heart Association 2009 meeting in Orlando, USA. The results of the RecordAF

registry show that 18% of all patients had cardiovascular (CV) clinical

events at 1 year mainly driven by CV hospitalization. A rhythm control

strategy was preferred by 55% of cardiologists and achieved better

therapeutic success than a rate control strategy (60% vs 47%). Nevertheless,

rhythm control strategies with existing therapies at the time of this study

did not translate into better outcomes than rate control.


    None of these 2 strategies appeared to be really satisfactory

for physicians; 22% of physicians changed their strategy and 52% modified AF

treatment within a strategy during the 12 months period.


    These results highlight the need for newer anti-arrhythmic

drugs able to successfully achieve rhythm and rate control as well as

decrease clinical events.


    The recruitment of the RealiseAF patients recently started at

the end of October 2009 and final results are expected by the end of 2010.

RealiseAF is supported by an unrestricted educational grant from

sanofi-aventis.


    About RealiseAF


    The RealiseAF registry will follow more than 10,000 patients

in 926 centers from 27 countries with a history of atrial fibrillation and at

least one AF episode in the last 12 months, or documented current AF.


    Adults with paroxysmal, persistent as well as permanent AF,

and AF due to transient causes (thyrotoxicosis, alcohol intoxication, acute

phase of myocardial infarction, pericarditis, myocarditis, electrocution,

pulmonary embolism or other pulmonary disease, hydroelectrolytic disorder,

metabolic disorder, etc.) are included.


    Data collected will include the following measures: family and

personal cardiovascular risk factors, history of comorbidities,

cardiovascular events leading to hospitalisation in the last 12 months,

cardiovascular interventions, history and characteristics of AF, AF

management, and quality of life assessment. Cardiologists (office-based and

hospital-based) and internists will be randomly selected to participate in

the study.


    About RecordAF


    The RecordAF registry recruited 5,604 patients with recent

onset atrial fibrillation from 21 countries spanning North and South America,

Europe and Asia. They were studied for a period of one year. The primary

outcomes of the study were therapeutic success and clinical outcomes

associated with rhythm- and rate-control strategies. Therapeutic success at 1

year required that treatment strategy was unchanged, that no clinical events

occurred during follow-up, and that sinus rhythm was achieved in the

rhythm-control group or the heart rate less than or equal to 80 bpm in 

the rate-control group.


    Physicians involved in the registry were randomly selected

from an initial representative and exhaustive global list of office- and

hospital-based cardiologists.


    About atrial fibrillation


    Atrial fibrillation is the most common cardiac arrhythmia and

affects nearly 7 million people in the European Union and the United 

States(1). AF currently represents a major economic burden for society and 

leads to potential life-threatening complications. AF increases the risk of 

stroke up to five-fold(2), worsens the prognosis of patients with 

cardiovascular risk factors(3), and doubles the risk of mortality(4) with 

significant burden on patients, health care providers and payers. 

Hospitalizations for AF have increased dramatically (two-to-three-fold) in 

recent years(1). AF hospitalizations now represent a third of all 

hospitalizations for arrhythmia and mortality in the US and Europe(3). 

Seventy percent of the annual cost of AF management in Europe is driven by 

hospital care and interventional procedures(5).


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    About sanofi-aventis


    Sanofi-aventis, a leading global pharmaceutical company,

discovers, develops and distributes therapeutic solutions to improve the

lives of everyone. Sanofi-aventis is listed in Paris (EURONEXT: SAN) and in

New York (NYSE: SNY). For more information, visit:



    For more information please visit: http://www.realiseaf.org


    

    References:


    (1) Go AS, Hylek EM, Phillips KA, et al. Prevalence of diagnosed

        atrial fibrillation in adults: national implications for rhythm

        management and stroke prevention: the AnTicoagulation and Risk

        Factors in Atrial Fibrillation (ATRIA) Study. JAMA 2001; 285:2370-5.


    (2) Lloyd-Jones et al. Lifetime Risk for Development of Atrial

        Fibrillation: The Framingham Heart Study. Circulation. 2004;

        110:1042-1046.


    (3) Fuster V et al. ACC/AHA/ESC 2006 guidelines for the management of

        patients with atrial fibrillation. European Heart Journal (2006) 

        27, 1979-2030.


    (4) Benjamin EJ, Wolf PA, D'Agostino RB, Silbershatz H, Kannel WB, Levy

        D. Impact of atrial fibrillation on the risk of death: the Framingham

        Heart Study. Circulation 1998 Sep 8; 98(10):946-52.


    (5) Ringborg A, Nieuwlaat R, Lindgren P, Jonsson B, Fidan D, Maggioni AP,

        Lopez-Sendon J, Stepinska J, Cokkinos DV, Crijns HJ. Costs of atrial

        fibrillation in five European countries: results from the Euro Heart

        Survey on atrial fibrillation. Europace. 2008 Apr;10(4):403-11. 

        Epub 2008 Mar 7.


    SOURCE: Sanofi-aventis



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