Impact of atrial fibrillation on the severity, progress, and disability of the ischemic stroke patients

Background and Aim: The association of atrial fibrillation (AF) with the ischemic stroke has emerged as an area of clinical research. The purpose of the present study is to investigate possible correlations between the severity, progress, and outcome of ischemic stroke and the presence of AF. Materials and Methods and Results: The clinical assessment of patients was based on the neurological status at the time of diagnosis utilizing the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS), the neurological semiology during hospitalization (improvement, deterioration, and without differentiation), and the final outcome at the end of the treatment optimizing the modified Rankin scale (mRS). A total of 344 patients diagnosed with an ischemic stroke were enrolled in the study. The presence of AF was found to be associated with higher severity, poorer progress, and more adverse clinical outcomes of the ischemic stroke. Furthermore, a lower frequency of transient ischemic attacks was observed in patients with AF. Finally, patients with AF presented higher incidence of middle cerebral artery occlusion and were more frequently found with a lesion on the left brain hemisphere. Conclusion: AF was found to be highly associated with higher severity and poorer prognosis of ischemic strokes, independently from the presence of other cardiovascular risk factors.