Aim of the study was to assess the concordance of the thromboprophylactic treatment in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (nAF) at the time of admission due to ischemic stroke with clinical guidelines of the European Society of Cardiology.
Methods: In the cross-sectional study were included 327 patients [143 (44%) males] treated because of ischemic stroke associated with nAF. The index of the thromboembolic risk (TE) has been established by the CHA₂DS₂-VASc score, whereas the bleeding risk has been assessed by the HAS-BLED score.
Results: Before the ischemic stroke, 98.2% of patients belonged to the group of high TE risk. Among these patients only 179 (55%) were received thromboprophylaxis: 67.5% patients acetylsalicylic acid, 30.5% warfarin, and 4% clopidogrel. Previous ischemic stroke was independently correlated with warfarin administration (OR 2.5; 95% Cl 1.4-4.5; p=0.003), while poorly controlled arterial hypertension was independently correlated with warfarin non-administration (OR 0.47; 95% Cl 0.25-0.88; p=0.019). The 83.7% of 55 patients, who experienced ischemic stroke during anticoagulant treatment, had an INR values lower than therapeutic.
Conclusion: Thromboprophylaxis among the patients with nAF admitted because of ischemic stroke did not correlate with their TE risk and contemporary guidelines of the European Society of Cardiology.