Extracranial Bleeding on Oral Anticoagulants in Atrial Fibrillation: COMBINE-AF Analysis

Study overview

The PubMed record describes an article titled "Incidence and Predictors of Extracranial Bleeding on Oral Anticoagulants for Stroke Prevention in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation: A COMBINE-AF Analysis." The article was published in Circulation (2026 Aug 25;154[8]:692-706) and is indexed with PMID 42549517. The DOI provided is 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.125.079205, and the PubMed entry includes links to full-text options hosted by the publisher.

The entry identifies the work as an analysis of the COMBINE-AF dataset, with a stated focus on incidence and predictors of extracranial bleeding among patients with atrial fibrillation receiving oral anticoagulants for stroke prevention. The PubMed summary serves as a bibliographic record and portal to the full article rather than a complete abstract of methods or results.

Authors and affiliations

The article lists multiple authors from diverse academic and clinical institutions. Lead and contributing authors named on the PubMed record include Deborah M. Siegal, Marc Carrier, M Cecilia Bahit, Jackie Bosch, Alexander P. Benz, Brian Bergmark, Robert P. Giugliano, Christopher B. Granger, Martin O'Donnell, Jonas Oldgren, Manesh R Patel, Rohin K Reddy, Lars Wallentin, Qilong Yi, Andre Zimerman, and John Eikelboom, among others.

Affiliations reported in the PubMed entry include:

• University of Ottawa and the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (Ottawa, ON, Canada)
• Population Health Research Institute and McMaster University (Hamilton, ON, Canada)
• Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School (Boston, MA, USA)
• Duke Clinical Research Institute, Duke University (Durham, NC, USA)
• University of Galway (Ireland)
• Uppsala Clinical Research Center and Uppsala University (Uppsala, Sweden)
• Imperial College London (United Kingdom)
• Instituto de Neurología Cognitiva, Neurociencias (Rosario, Argentina)
• MOVE Academic Research Organization and Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (Porto Alegre, Brazil)

These affiliations indicate a multi‑center, international collaboration for the COMBINE-AF analysis.

Publication and indexing details

The PubMed record reports the citation details: Circulation. 2026 Aug 25;154(8):692-706. The electronic publication date is listed as Epub 2026 Aug 4. The article DOI is 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.125.079205, and it is indexed with PubMed ID 42549517. Full-text links are provided through the PubMed record, including a publisher (Atypon) link.

Primary focus and scope of the analysis

Based on the title and PubMed metadata, the analysis examines the incidence of extracranial bleeding and seeks to identify predictors of such bleeding in patients with atrial fibrillation treated with oral anticoagulants for stroke prevention. The study is framed as a COMBINE-AF analysis, implying use of combined trial or cohort datasets relevant to anticoagulation in AF, but the PubMed entry does not present specific dataset composition, sample size, comparator groups, anticoagulant agents included, or follow-up duration.

Availability of methods, results, and predictors in the source record

The PubMed listing supplies bibliographic and authorship information but does not include the abstract text or the numerical results in the portion of the record provided here. Crucial elements that are not reported in this PubMed excerpt include:

• Exact incidence rates of extracranial bleeding (overall or by category)
• Which oral anticoagulants were analyzed (direct oral anticoagulants vs vitamin K antagonists) and any between‑agent comparisons
• The statistical methods used to identify predictors and any adjusted effect estimates
• Patient inclusion/exclusion criteria, sample size, baseline characteristics, and follow‑up duration
• Secondary outcomes, subgroup analyses, and clinical recommendations

Because these items are not present in the PubMed snippet, they cannot be restated or summarized here without access to the full article.

Access to full text and identifiers

For clinicians, researchers, or guideline developers who need the complete methods and results, the PubMed record provides the DOI (10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.125.079205) and links to full-text options. The entry indicates the article is available through the publisher’s platform; users should retrieve the full text to examine the reported incidence, predictors, statistical analyses, and authors’ conclusions regarding bleeding risk on anticoagulants in AF.

Limitations of the PubMed entry and recommended next steps

The PubMed metadata reliably identifies the study title, authors, journal citation, DOI, and PMID and confirms the international, multi‑institutional authorship. However, the provided record does not include the abstract or study data necessary for clinical interpretation. Therefore:

• Do not infer incidence rates, relative risks, or specific predictors from this summary record alone; those data were not reported in the provided source content.
• Retrieve and review the full-text article (via DOI or publisher links) to obtain validated details on design, sample size, anticoagulant agents studied, bleeding definitions, incidence estimates, multivariable analyses, and clinical implications.
• If access through the publisher is restricted, consider institutional access, interlibrary request, or contacting the corresponding author for supplementary information.

Summary

The PubMed record documents a COMBINE-AF analysis addressing extracranial bleeding on oral anticoagulants in patients with atrial fibrillation, published in Circulation in 2026. The record lists full authorship, institutional affiliations, DOI, and PMID, but the abstract and outcome data were not included in the excerpted source content; the full article must be consulted to obtain the study’s incidence estimates, identified predictors, and clinical conclusions.