Activated clotting time (ACT) kinetics under uninterrupted oral anticoagulants (OACs) has not been fully evaluated. The present study is sought to validate ACT kinetics including stability under uninterrupted use of OACs during ablation procedure in daily clinical practice. We prospectively enrolled consecutive 554 atrial fibrillation patients who underwent catheter ablation procedure under uninterrupted OACs. We evaluated ACT kinetics at an interval of 15 minutes during the procedure and periprocedural complications among five OACs (dabigatran [N = 46], rivaroxaban [N = 125], apixaban [N = 129], edoxaban [N = 184], and warfarin [N = 70]). Compared with the dabigatran group, time to achieve target ACT was significantly longer in the rivaroxaban and apixaban groups, but not in the edoxaban and warfarin groups (8.7 minutes versus 11.7 minutes, P <0.001; 13.3 minutes, P <0.001; 8.8 minutes, P = 0.64; 10.3 minutes, P = 0.19, respectively). Heparin dose to achieve target ACT was comparable except for the warfarin group. Whereas, compared with the dabigatran group, time in therapeutic range of ACT (ACT-TTR) within the first 1 hour was comparable in the rivaroxaban and apixaban group, but significantly lower in the edoxaban and warfarin groups (73.7 % versus 63.0%, P = 0.06; 67.0 %, P = 0.16; 59.2 %, P = 0.001; 58.2%, P = 0.004, respectively). In multiple regression analysis, low body weight, rivaroxaban, apixaban, and AM session had significant associations with time and heparin dose to achieve target ACT, and there were positive associations of dabigatran and apixaban with ACT-TTR within the first 1 hour. The incidence of periprocedural complications did not significantly differ among the five groups. Under uninterrupted OAC use in daily clinical practice, dabigatran showed faster achievement of target ACT and higher stability of ACT than other OACs.

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