Systematic review and meta-analysis looks at risk factors for stroke in patients taking warfarin for AF

Source: Stroke Area: News The results of a systematic review and meta-analysis seeking to identify the risk factors that contribute to stroke risk in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) who are taking an oral anticoagulant (OAC) have been published early online in the journal 'Stroke'.   The authors note that although OACs reduce the risks of stroke and mortality in patients with AF, some patients taking them will still sustain stroke.  They performed a systematic review to identify contemporary randomised clinical trials investigating OACs in patients with AF, and then performed a meta-analysis of recent RCTs (published after 2002), with particular focus on the warfarin arm of each trial, to investigate whether certain subgroups remained at high risk of stroke despite OAC treatment.   A total of six trials were included in the meta-analysis (n=58,883). The authors report that the overall rate of stroke was low (1.1% to 2.74% per year). The following characteristics were found ...
Source: NeLM - Cardiovascular Medicine - Category: Cardiology Source Type: news