Secondary Versus Primary Stroke Prevention in Atrial Fibrillation: Insights From the Darlington Atrial Fibrillation Registry [Clinical Sciences]

The objective of this study is to compare clinical outcomes of AF patients with versus without previous stroke in relation to guideline-adherent antithrombotic treatment in a contemporary primary care population.Methods—Community cohort of 105 000 patients from 11 general practices in Darlington, England, was used to assess AF stroke prevention strategies against 2014 National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.Results—Overall, 2259 (2.15%) patients with AF were identified, of which 18.9% constituted a secondary prevention cohort. For secondary prevention, antithrombotic treatment was guideline adherent in 56.3%, 18.9% were overtreated, and 24.8% undertreated; corresponding proportions for primary prevention were 49.5%, 11.7%, and 38.8%, respectively. One-year stroke rates were 8.6% and 1.6% for secondary and primary prevention, respectively (P
Source: Stroke - Category: Neurology Authors: Tags: Catheter Ablation and Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillator, Secondary Prevention, Mortality/Survival, Statements and Guidelines, Ischemic Stroke Original Contributions Source Type: research