Department Of Medicine

Antithrombotic Therapy in Atrial Fibrillation

(Following Excerpt from The Peer Review Organization of New Jersey, Inc .")

According to the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA), strokes are reported to be the third leading cause of death in the United States, as well as a leading cause of serious, long-term disability. Approximately 600,000 new strokes are documented annually in the United States, and it has been estimated that carotid artery disease may be responsible for 20 to 30 percent of them. For people over age 55, the incidence of stroke more than doubles in each successive decade. About 29 percent of people who have an initial stroke die within a year. This percentage is higher among people age 65 or older.

Campus Resources :

• University Hospital
• Studies in progress

For more instant information on this topic please see links below :

Diagnostics:

• Guidelines for Electrocardiography . JACC Vol. 19, 1992: 473-81
• ACC/AHA Guidelines for the Clinical Application of Echocardiography. Circulation Vol. 95, No. 6, March 18, 1997: 1686-1744
• Guidelines for Clinical Use of Cardiac Radionuclide Imaging. JACC Vol. 25, 1995: 521-47

Literature:

• Aspirin vs. Warfarin in Atrial Fibrillation
  • Bleeding during warfarin and aspirin therapy in patients with atrial fibrillation : the AFASAK 2 study. Atrial Fibrillation Aspirin and Anticoagulation. Arch Intern Med. 1999 Jun 28;159(12):1322-8.
• Stroke Prevention in Atrial Fibrillation I Study.
  • Stroke Prevention in Atrial Fibrillation Study. Final results. Circulation. 1991 Aug;84(2):527-39.
• Stroke Prevention in Atrial Fibrillation II Study.
  • Warfarin versus aspirin for prevention of thromboembolism in atrial fibrillation: Stroke Prevention in Atrial Fibrillation II Study. Lancet. 1994 Mar 19;343(8899):687-91.
• Stroke Prevention in Atrial Fibrillation III Study.
  • Effectiveness of fixed minidose warfarin in the prevention of thromboembolism and vascular death in nonrheumatic atrial fibrillation. Am J Cardiol. 1998 Aug 15;82(4):433-7.
  • Patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation at low risk of stroke during treatment with aspirin : Stroke Prevention in Atrial Fibrillation III Study. The SPAF III Writing Committee for the Stroke Prevention in Atrial Fibrillation Investigators. JAMA. 1998 Apr 22-29;279(16):1273-7.
  • Adjusted-dose warfarin versus low-intensity, fixed-dose warfarin plus aspirin for high-risk patients with atrial fibrillation: Stroke Prevention in Atrial Fibrillation III randomised clinical trial. Lancet. 1996 Sep 7;348(9028):633-8.