Antithrombotic therapy reduces the risk of stroke in patients with AF, and Warfarin has been shown to have a relative risk reduction of approximately 60% compared with control and to be significantly more effective than Aspirin. Balancing the risk of bleeding and thromboembolism is crucial in the management of patients with AF. Therefore, AF carries a high risk for thromboembolic events and any patient with at least two moderate risk factors, and probably even one, should be on oral anticoagulation.

About 76% of AF patients have a moderate to high risk of embolic complications, and they have also a significant risk factor for stroke recurrence. The optimal management strategy for an individual patient with AF depends on the patient’s underlying condition.ĪF increases the overall risk of stroke five-fold, and is associated with particularly severe strokes. AF may present in a wide variety of clinical conditions. Many fundamental aspects of AF have been poorly understood until quite recently, and there are several features on the mechanisms of AF that makes it difficult to manage it properly.

Atrial fibrillation shares strong epidemiological associations with other cardiovascular diseases such as heart failure and coronary artery disease. The annual risk of stroke ranges from 2%-18% depending on other risk factors. AF has a prevalence of approximately 1% and a lifetime risk of approximately 25% after the age of 40. Actually, AF is the most common sustained arrhythmia encountered in the field of internal medicine. It has been estimated that there will be 12 million patients with AF in the United States within the next several decades. The prevalence of atrial fibrillation (AF) increases with age, and the elderly are the fastest growing subset of the population.

Idarucizumab dose