AFNET 2-Registry (EORP)

The EORP AF General Registry was conducted by the European Society for Cardiology (ESC) within the EURObservational Research Programme (EORP) and was designed to provide information on the implemention of the current ESC guidelines in the everyday medical care of patients with atrial fibrillation and the influence of different therapies on the course of the disease. As an extension of the European registry, AFNET (Atrial Fibrillation Network) has initiated the AFNET-2 Registry (EORP) together with the ESC and the „German Society for Cardiology“ (DGK). In this registry the current treatment status of patients in Germany with atrial fibrillation was documented. 

Since the European EORP AF General Registry included cardiologic study sites, these data did not reflect the standard of treatment of atrial fibrillation in Germany. In Germany, most patients are not treated in cardiological departments or practices, but by general practitioners or specialists for internal medicine without a focus on cardiology. Therefore, an adequate picture of the medical care situation of patients with atrial fibrillation can only be obtained if all levels of patient care are involved. Accordingly, data collection in the AFNET-2 Registry (EORP) involved sites from all levels of patient care – from university hospitals to general practitioners. In the period from 2014 to 2016, a total of 3,500 patients were included in approximately 160 study sites, whereas general practitioners, internal and cardiological practices, hospitals and university hospitals were represented in a balanced way. All patients were tracked in a follow-up period of three years.

In the year 2019, first results (Baseline) were presented. They showed that treatment with oral anticoagulants (OAC) was predominant in patients with high risk of stroke according to the current guidelines. The only difference in the gender distribution appeared in the combined treatment with OAC and platelet inhibitors. Patients receiving anticoagulants for the first time mainly took NOAC (new oral anticoagulants).