Few models had addressed the cumulative nature of risk factors where a combination of risk factors would confer a greater risk than either factor alone .
In patients at high risk of stroke , anticoagulation is cost effective , but not for those with a low risk of stroke .
The risk of stroke in atrial fibrillation ( AF ) needs to be assessed in each patient to determine the clinical and cost-effectiveness of thromboprophylaxis , with the aim of appropriate use of antithrombotic therapy .
To achieve this , stroke risk factors in AF population s need to be identified and stroke risk stratification models have been devised on the basis of these risk factors .
In this article , we firstly provide a systematic review of studies examining the attributable stroke risk of various clinical , demographic and echocardiographic patient characteristics in AF population s. Secondly , we performed a systematic review of published stroke risk stratification models , in terms of the results of the review of stroke risk factors and their ability to accurately discriminate between different levels of stroke risk .
Risk factors for new thromboembolic stroke in patients > or = 62 years of age with chronic atrial fibrillation.
In a prospect i ve study of 312 older patients with chronic atrial fibrillation , at 36-month follow-up evaluation , new thromboembolic stroke developed in 162 of 312 patients ( 52 % ) . Significant independent risk factors for new thromboembolic stroke were prior stroke ( risk ratio = 1.6 ) , rheumatic mitral stenosis ( risk ratio = 2.0 ) , left ventricular ( LV ) hypertrophy ( risk ratio = 2.8 ) , abnormal LV ejection fraction ( risk ratio = 1.8 ) , serum total cholesterol ( risk ratio = 1.005 ) , and serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ( risk ratio = 0.96 )
Few models had addressed the cumulative nature of risk factors where a combination of risk factors would confer a greater risk than either factor alone .
In patients at high risk of stroke , anticoagulation is cost effective , but not for those with a low risk of stroke .
The risk of stroke in atrial fibrillation ( AF ) needs to be assessed in each patient to determine the clinical and cost-effectiveness of thromboprophylaxis , with the aim of appropriate use of antithrombotic therapy .
To achieve this , stroke risk factors in AF population s need to be identified and stroke risk stratification models have been devised on the basis of these risk factors .
In this article , we firstly provide a systematic review of studies examining the attributable stroke risk of various clinical , demographic and echocardiographic patient characteristics in AF population s. Secondly , we performed a systematic review of published stroke risk stratification models , in terms of the results of the review of stroke risk factors and their ability to accurately discriminate between different levels of stroke risk .