Moving the tipping point: the decision to anticoagulate patients with atrial fibrillation.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The rate of ischemic stroke associated with traditional risk factors for patients with atrial fibrillation has declined over the past 2 decades. Furthermore, new and potentially safer anticoagulants are on the horizon. Thus, the balance between risk factors for stroke and benefit of anticoagulation may be shifting.

Methods and results

The Markov state transition decision model was used to analyze the CHADS(2) score, above which anticoagulation is preferred, first using the stroke rate predicted for the CHADS(2) derivation cohort, and then using the stroke rate from the more contemporary AnTicoagulation and Risk Factors In Atrial Fibrillation cohort for any CHADS(2) score. The base case was a 69-year-old man with atrial fibrillation. Interventions included oral ant

SUBMITTER: Eckman MH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3058150 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature