Cost-Effectiveness of Therapy in Nonatrial Fibrillation
Authors: Edward Catherwood, Mark L. Greenberg
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (1999)

Letters21 December 1999Cost-Effectiveness of Therapy in Nonatrial FibrillationEdward Catherwood, MD, MS and Mark L. Greenberg, MDEdward Catherwood, MD, MSDartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center; Lebanon, NH 03756 (Catherwood)Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center; Lebanon, NH 03756 (Greenberg)Search for more papers by this author and Mark L. Greenberg, MDDartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center; Lebanon, NH 03756 (Catherwood)Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center; Lebanon, NH 03756 (Greenberg)Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-131-12-199912210-00016 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail IN RESPONSE:Dr. Wiesel argues that all patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation should receive long-term anticoagulation after successful cardioversion. He cites the frequent association of paroxysmal or chronic atrial fibrillation with acute stroke (1). He also raises concern that our estimate of early stroke risk (a 6-week fraction of the annualized risk) if relapse occurs is too low, given the potential for paroxysmal episodes. He refers to the study by Lin and colleagues (1), which examined the frequency of newly diagnosed atrial fibrillation in patients presenting with acute stroke. This study did not assess the occurrence of stroke in patients ...References1. Lin HJ, Wolf PA, Benjamin EJ, Belanger AJ, D'Agostino RB. Newly diagnosed atrial fibrillation and acute stroke. The Framingham Study. Stroke. 1995;26:1527-30. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar2. Laupacis A, Albers G, Dalen J, Dunn MI, Jacobsen AK, Singer DE. Antithrombotic therapy in atrial fibrillation. Chest. 1998;114:579S-89S. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar3. Atrial fibrillation follow-up investigation of rhythm management—the AFFIRM study design. The Planning and Steering Committees of the AFFIRM study for the NHLBI AFFIRM investigators. Am J Cardiol. 1997;79:1198-202. Google Scholar4. Prystowsky EN. Management of atrial fibrillation: simplicity surrounded by controversy. Ann Intern Med. 1997;126:244-6. LinkGoogle Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAuthors: Edward Catherwood, MD, MS; Mark L. Greenberg, MDAffiliations: Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center; Lebanon, NH 03756 (Catherwood)Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center; Lebanon, NH 03756 (Greenberg) PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoCost-Effectiveness of Cardioversion and Antiarrhythmic Therapy in Nonvalvular Atrial Fibrillation Edward Catherwood , W. David Fitzpatrick , Mark L. Greenberg , Peter T. Holzberger , David J. Malenka , Barbara R. Gerling , and John D. Birkmeyer Cost-Effectiveness of Therapy in Nonatrial Fibrillation Joseph Wiesel Metrics 21 December 1999Volume 131, Issue 12Page: 979KeywordsArrhythmiaAtrial fibrillationDrug therapyIschemic strokeMarkov modelsStroke ePublished: 15 August 2000 Issue Published: 21 December 1999 Copyright & PermissionsCopyright © 1999 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF downloadLoading ...