Ischemic Stroke Risk in Patients With Nonvalvular Atrial Fibrillation: JACC Review Topic of the Week.

Abstract

The last decade has witnessed remarkable advances in pharmacological and nonpharmacological strategies for stroke prevention in patients with atrial fibrillation. However, the currently available clinical stroke risk prediction models do not account for key nonclinical factors (arrhythmia burden, left atrial physiology and anatomy, chemical and electrocardiographic markers) and other competing clinical risks. Hence, their ability to identify patients who will derive the most benefit from pharmacological and mechanical risk prevention strategies remain limited. In this paper, the authors review the current and evolving ischemic stroke risk prediction schemes in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation, highlight the strengths and weaknesses of the models, and discuss the unmet needs in this field.