Aspirin in stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation (AF)
Role of Aspirin in stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation (AF)
- evidence for effective stroke prevention with aspirin in AF is very weak
- on the contrary, aspirin is associated with a significantly increased risk of bleeding and intracranial hemorrhage, especially in the elderly. As such, the use of aspirin should be reserved for only those patients who are intolerant to all forms of oral anticoagulant
- addition of aspirin to other anticoagulant drugs is associated with a significantly increased risk of bleeding
- patients with coexisting stable coronary artery disease who are on warfarin do not ordinarily require concomitant aspirin
NICE have stated (2):
- do not offer aspirin monotherapy solely for stroke prevention to people with atrial fibrillation.
Reference:
- 1) British Heart Foundation Factfile (February 2013). Stroke Prevention in Atrial Fibrillation (AF).
- 2) NICE (June 2014). Atrial fibrillation: the management of atrial fibrillation
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