Stroke Prevention Therapy Use Low Among High-Risk Patients With Atrial Fibrillation (AF)

/NEWS.GNOM.ES/ — New data show that, worldwide, one in three patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) who are at high risk for stroke are not being prescribed anticoagulant therapy, particularly vitamin K antagonists (VKA) – medicines known to significantly lower stroke risk in these patients.  The findings are from the first cohort of the GARFIELD (Global Anticoagulant Registry in the Field) – an innovative research initiative being conducted by the Thrombosis Research Institute (TRI) to understand the global burden of AF, a common condition in which the two small upper chambers of the heart (the atria) quiver rather than beat rhythmically and can lead to life-threatening complications, including stroke.  

The first analysis of cohort one included 9,288 patients newly-diagnosed with AF and with at least one additional risk factor for stroke from 19 countries in the Americas, Europe , Asia , and Asia Pacific . Of these patients, 81 percent had a high risk for stroke based on a score > or = 2 on CHA2DS2-VASc, a detailed assessment of stroke risk in AF patients based on eight known risk factors.* Treatment guidelines recommend that all patients with a CHA2DS2-VASc or a CHADS2 risk score > or = 2 be prescribed anticoagulation therapy with VKAs, unless contraindicated, for example because of a risk of excessive bleeding.  Whilst 81 percent of newly diagnosed patients had a CHA2DS2-VASc risk score > or = 2, only 64 percent of the high-risk patients in this cohort received any anticoagulant therapy. According to CHADS2, 55 percent of newly diagnosed patients were at high risk for stroke out of which 33 percent did not receive any anticoagulant therapy.