Atrial fibrillation burden: an update—the need for a CHA2DS2-VASc-AFBurden score. Issue 5 (22nd December 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Tiver, Kathryn D; Quah, Jing; Lahiri, Anandaroop; Ganesan, Anand N; McGavigan, Andrew D
• Is Part Of: Europace. Volume 23:Issue 5(2021)
• Page Start: 665
• Page End: 673
• Publication Date: 2020-12-22
• Subjects: Atrial fibrillation -- Atrial high rate episodes -- Burden -- Duration -- Stroke -- Systemic embolism; Arrhythmia -- Treatment -- Periodicals; Cardiac pacing -- Periodicals; Catheter ablation -- Periodicals; Heart -- Physiology -- Periodicals; Electrophysiology -- Periodicals; 617.4120645
• DOI: 10.1093/europace/euaa287
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1099-5129

Abstract

Abstract: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is an established independent risk factor for stroke. Current guidelines regard AF as binary; either present or absent, with the decision for anti-coagulation driven by clinical variables alone. However, there are increasing data to support a biological gradient of AF burden and stroke risk, both in clinical and non-clinical AF phenotypes. As such, this raises the concept of combining AF burden assessment with a clinical risk score to refine and individualize the assessment of stroke risk in AF—the CHA2 DS2 VASc-AFBurden score. We review the published data supporting a biological gradient to try and construct a putative schema of risk attributable to AF burden.