View article

Atrial fibrillation (AF) confers a 5-fold risk of stroke and the risk of death from AF-related stroke is doubled; it is the most common sustained cardiac arrhythmia, occurring in 1%–2% of the general population. Meta-analysis of anti-platelet therapy demonstrate a non-significant 19% reduction in the incidence of stroke, proving oral anticoagulation (OAC; such as warfarin) to be far superior (64% relative risk reduction) in stroke prevention. Recent guidelines have been published by the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) which focus on the most effective antithrombotic therapy in AF and propose a new risk scoring system, the CHA2DS2-VASc score. In our institution the prescription and documentation of antithrombotic therapy in AF has been the focus of a previous audit that demonstrated poor compliance with the guidelines and documentation of decision making. The focus of this audit was twofold: first to determine …