Thirty-Day Mortality After Ischemic Stroke and Intracranial Hemorrhage in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation On and Off Anticoagulants
Atrial Fibrillation Thursday, June 28th, 2012Stroke.ahajournals.org: April 26, 2012.
Background and Purpose—Prescribing warfarin for atrial fibrillation depends in large part on the expected reduction in ischemic stroke risk versus the expected increased risk of intracranial hemorrhage (ICH). However, the anticoagulation decision also depends on the relative severity of such events. We assessed the impact of anticoagulation on 30-day mortality from ischemic stroke versus ICH in a large community-based cohort of patients with atrial fibrillation.
Methods—We followed 13 559 patients with atrial fibrillation enrolled in an integrated healthcare delivery system for a median 6 years. Incident ischemic strokes and ICHs were identified from computerized databases and validated through medical record review. The association of warfarin and international normalized ratio at presentation with 30-day mortality was modeled using multivariable logistic regression adjusting for clinical factors. Read more
