BackgroundAtrial fibrillation is associated with higher mortality. Identification of causes of death and contemporary risk factors for all‐cause mortality may guide interventions.Methods and ResultsIn the Rivaroxaban Once Daily Oral Direct Factor Xa Inhibition Compared with Vitamin K Antagonism for Prevention of Stroke and Embolism Trial in Atrial Fibrillation (ROCKET AF) study, patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation were randomized to rivaroxaban or dose‐adjusted warfarin. Cox proportional hazards regression with backward elimination identified factors at randomization that were independently associated with all‐cause mortality in the 14 171 participants in the intention‐to‐treat population. The median age was 73 years, and the mean CHADS 2 score was 3.5. Over 1.9 years of median follow‐up, 1214 (8.6%) patients died. Kaplan–Meier mortality rates were 4.2% at 1 year and 8.9% at 2 years. The majority of classified deaths (1081) were cardiovascular (72%), whereas only 6% were nonhemorrhagic stroke or systemic embolism. No significant difference in all‐cause mortality was observed between the rivaroxaban and warfarin arms (P=0.15). Heart failure (hazard ratio 1.51, 95% CI 1.33–1.70, P<0.0001) and age ≥75 years (hazard ratio 1.69, 95% CI 1.51–1.90, P<0.0001) were associated with higher all‐cause mortality. Multiple additional characteristics were independently associated with higher mortality, with decreasing creatinine clearance, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, male sex, peripheral vascular disease, and diabetes being among the most strongly associated (model C‐index 0.677).ConclusionsIn a large population of patients anticoagulated for nonvalvular atrial fibrillation, ≈7 in 10 deaths were cardiovascular, whereas <1 in 10 deaths were caused by nonhemorrhagic stroke or systemic embolism. Optimal prevention and treatment of heart failure, renal impairment, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and diabetes may improve survival.Clinical Trial Registration URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/. Unique identifier: NCT00403767.

We report the case of a 84-year-old admitted with symptoms of congestive heart failure. Ultrasonography revealed a hyperechoic nodule in the left lobe of the liver, with a peripheral hypoechoic rim, multiple irregular hypoechoic nodules in both hepatic lobes, portal vein, inferior vena cava, and right atrium thrombosis. On ultrasonographic and alpha-fetoprotein criteria the case was interpreted as hepatocellular carcinoma with Budd-Chiari syndrome. The particularity of the case is the initial presentation of the hepatocellular carcinoma as Budd-Chiari syndrome. The inferior vena cava and right atrium thrombosis, as a cause of secondary Budd-Chiari syndrome in a patient with hepatocellular carcinoma, has been rarely reported.

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Currently it is estimated that there are over 382 million patients with diabetes worldwide and their number is increasing, which makes this metabolic disorder the most common non-contagious disease, particularly related to obesity and physical inactivity. There is a close relationship between diabetes and cardiovascular disease, statistics showing that over 50% of deaths in patients with diabetes are produced by cardiovascular complications. This requires a close collaboration between diabetologists and cardiologists. The mortality caused by atherosclerotic complications is 65-80% for diabetic patients compared to 33% in non-diabetic patients. Moreover, 20% of the patients requiring coronary revascularization procedures are diabetics and over 30% of patients with angiographic exploration have diabetes. Among the patients with diabetes the coronary lesions are present in 50% of cases and the peripheral arteries lesions in 30% of cases.