Moniek Maarse 1, MD; Lucas V.A. Boersma 1, MD, PhD; Martin J. Swaans 1, MD, PhD
1. St. Antonius Hospital, Nieuwegein, the Netherlands
Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common cardiac arrhythmia and is associated with the development of atrial thrombi and the risk of embolisation. A detrimental manifestation after embolisation of these thrombi is ischaemic stroke, with 15-20% of all ischaemic strokes occurring in patients with AF1. The increased thromboembolic risk depends on various risk factors. Therefore, current guidelines recommend risk stratification by CHA2DS2-VASc score to estimate the need for oral anticoagulation (OAC) therapy in patients with AF2.
Several randomised controlled trials (RCTs) demonstrated a two-thirds reduction in the incidence of stroke using vitamin K antagonists (VKA) compared to ...