Anticoagulation for stroke prophylaxis is effective in practice

Anticoagulation to prevent stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation is safe and effective in clinical practice. Despite firm evidence, anticoagulation is underused in mainstream settings because of fears that differences in patients' characteristics and anticoagulation practice may reduce benefits and increase risks. On p 1236 Kalra et al report a prospective study in 167 patients followed up for two years. They show that despite differences in age, sex, and anticoagulation control, stroke (2.0% per year) and major bleeding rates (1.7% per year) were comparable to randomised studies. The current low rate of anticoagulation for stroke prevention in eligible patients with atrial fibrillation is unjustified, even in elderly people.

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    StumbleUpon    Technorati    What's this?

Relevant Article

Prospective cohort study to determine if trial efficacy of anticoagulation for stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation translates into clinical effectiveness

Lalit Kalra, Gloria Yu, Inigo Perez, Anil Lakhani, and Nora Donaldson
BMJ 2000 320: 1236-1239. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]