Stroke risk in an elderly population with atrial fibrillation

Patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (AF) have an increased risk of stroke, but the absolute rate of stroke varies widely depending on coexistent vascular disease. We assessed the stroke rate and predictive value of two published schemes for stroke risk stratification in a population-derived cohort of 259 elderly people with nonvalvular AF followed for a median of 5.3 years. The rate of ischemic stroke was 2.8% per year (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.9, 3.9). Thirty-one percent were predicted to be at low risk, and their stroke rate was 1.7% per year (95% CI 0.6, 3.8). Many people with AF in this population-derived cohort had relatively low rates of stroke. Further studies to reliably stratify stroke risk in patients with AF are needed.