A University of Ottawa Heart Institute-led research project recorded a significant milestone last month when researchers enrolled a thousandth patient to participate in the study. The Optimal Anticoagulation for Enhanced Risk Patients Post-Catheter Ablation for Atrial Fibrillation (OCEAN) trial joins only a handful of atrial fibrillation trials that have reached four-digit enrolment territory.
OCEAN is a randomized controlled phase four trial to investigate whether a strategy of ongoing, long-term oral anticoagulation is superior to a strategy of antiplatelet therapy (ASA) alone in reducing the incidence of cerebral embolic events in moderate risk patients post-successful catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation.
The study receives funding from the Canadian Institutes for Health Research and is conducted in collaboration with Southlake Regional Health Centre, Canadian Stroke Prevention Intervention Network (C-Spin), Bayer Inc., and Biotronik.
David Birnie, MD, of the UOHI, and Atul Verma, MD, of Southlake Regional Health Centre are co-principal investigators.