Early Recurrence and Cerebral Bleeding in Patients With Acute Ischemic Stroke and Atrial Fibrillation: Effect of Anticoagulation and Its Timing: The RAF Study [Clinical Sciences]

Conclusions—
Acute stroke in atrial fibrillation patients is associated with high rates of ischemic recurrence and major bleeding at 90 days. This study has observed that high CHA2DS2-VASc score, high National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale, large ischemic lesions, and type of anticoagulant administered each independently led to a greater risk of recurrence and bleedings. Also, data showed that the best time for initiating anticoagulation treatment for secondary stroke prevention is 4 to 14 days from stroke onset. Moreover, patients treated with oral anticoagulants alone had better outcomes compared with patients treated with low molecular weight heparins alone or before oral anticoagulants.

Source: Stroke - July 27, 2015 Category: Neurology Authors: Paciaroni, M., Agnelli, G., Falocci, N., Caso, V., Becattini, C., Marcheselli, S., Rueckert, C., Pezzini, A., Poli, L., Padovani, A., Csiba, L., Szabo, L., Sohn, S.-I., Tassinari, T., Abdul-Rahim, A. H., Michel, P., Cordier, M., Vanacker, P., Remillard, S Tags: Coumarins Clinical Sciences Source Type: research