Patients hospitalized for intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) are more likely to die in the hospital if they received oral anticoagulants or warfarin prior to hospitalization, according to a retrospective cohort study involving >140,000 individuals. Investigators looked at anticoagulation therapy delivered within a week of hospital admission and how such therapy impacted outcomes in participants admitted with ICH. Among the results:

• 11% were taking warfarin and 4% non–vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants (NOACs) before hemorrhaging.
• These patients were older and had higher prevalence of atrial fibrillation/prior stroke.
• Unadjusted in-hospital mortality rates in patients receiving warfarin, NOACs, or no oral anticoagulants were 33%, 27%, and 23%, respectively.
• Adjusted in-hospital mortality risk was 9% higher in patients who previously received warfarin than it was in those who did not receive prior oral anticoagulation.
• It was 3% higher in patients who received NOACs previously.
• Patients who received prior NOACs had a 6% lower risk of in-hospital mortality than those with prior warfarin use.