Oral Anticoagulation for Atrial Fibrillation in Dialysis with Ziv Harel

Learning Objectives:
To highlight why managing atrial fibrillation is important and discuss its epidemiology in patients receiving dialysis.
To demonstrate that equipoise exists in the current management strategies for atrial fibrillation in patients receiving dialysis.
To describe the results of a pilot trial comparing different anticoagulation strategies in atrial fibrillation patients receiving dialysis (SAFE-D Trial)

Dr. Ziv Harel is a nephrologist and Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto. He completed his undergraduate degrees at the University of Toronto, medical school at the University of Western Ontario, and continued his clinical training in internal medicine and nephrology at the University of Toronto. Following this, he completed a Master’s degree in Clinical Epidemiology at the University of Toronto, a research fellowship at Women’s College Hospital, and the Veteran’s Health Administration Quality Scholars (VAQS) Fellowship in patient safety. In addition to attending on the hospital’s Nephrology consult and ward services, Dr. Harel provides longitudinal care for patients on chronic hemodialysis and has an active general nephrology practice.
Dr. Harel’s research interests are in the areas of anticoagulation in patients receiving dialysis, the interplay of pregnancy and the kidney, and patient safety in individuals with chronic kidney disease. He is currently leading a Canadian Institutes of Health Research-funded international trial on the role of oral anticoagulation in patients with atrial fibrillation receiving chronic dialysis. As a founding member of the Kidney Dialysis and Transplantation Program at ICES, Dr. Harel is also involved in several studies that are using province-wide population-based data to answer research questions in kidney disease.