Rethinking Stroke Prevention for Patients with Atrial Fibrillation
We are diagnosing atrial fibrillation (AF) more often that at any time in history. This is driven by the aging of our populations, the growing prevalence of AF risk factors and by the proliferation of longer-term electrocardiographic monitoring, including patient-facing technologies 1,2. However, one of medicine’s great triumphs of the last 30 years has been the ability to prevent most AF-related strokes. While oral anticoagulation (OAC) can reduce stroke risk by over two-thirds, it is associated with a risk of major bleeding; necessitating to strategies to identify those patients to derive a net benefit from OAC 3.