Is It Time to Incorporate the Left Atrial Size to the Current Stroke Risk Scoring Systems for Atrial Fibrillation?

Primary care physicians and cardiologists rely on risk scoring systems, which consist of a number of clinical variables used together, to predict stroke risk in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). Ultimately, this helps determining the need for anticoagulation. Left atrial size is not utilized in any stroke risk scoring system to stratify patients at risk for cardio-embolic stroke. Throughout the literature, there is much debate surrounding the use of left atrial size as an additional risk factor for stroke in patients with and without AF.

Source: Current Problems in Cardiology - October 19, 2016 Category: Cardiology Authors: Jonathan David Gardner, William Paul Skelton, Rami N. Khouzam Source Type: research