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(Stroke. 2001;32:392.)
© 2001 American Heart Association, Inc.
Original Contributions |
Characteristics, Outcome, and Care of Stroke Associated With Atrial Fibrillation in Europe
Data From a Multicenter Multinational Hospital–Based Registry (The European Community Stroke Project)
From the Department of Neurological and Psychiatric Sciences (M.L., G.P., A.M.B., G.T., P.V., D.I.), University of Florence, Florence, Italy; the National Research Council of Italy (CNR-CSFET) (A.D.C.), Italian Longitudinal Study on Aging, Florence, Italy; Health Area 10 (S.S., M.C.B., G.L., A.G.), Florence, Italy; and the Department of Public Health Sciences (C.D.A.W.), The Guy’s, Kings College, and St Thomas’ Hospital Medical and Dental School, Guy’s Campus, London, England.
Background and Purpose—The role of atrial fibrillation (AF) as a determinant of stroke outcome is not well established. Studies focusing on this topic relied on relatively small samples of patients, scarcely representative of the older age groups. We aimed at evaluating clinical characteristics, care, and outcome of stroke associated with AF in a large European sample.
Methods—In a European Concerted Action involving 7 countries, 4462 patients hospitalized for first-in-a-lifetime stroke were evaluated for demographics, risk factors, clinical presentation, resource use, and 3-month survival, disability (Barthel Index), and handicap (Rankin scale).
Results—AF was present in 803 patients (18.0%). AF patients, compared with those without AF, were older, were more frequently female, and more often had experienced a previous myocardial infarction; they were less often diabetics, alcohol consumers, and smokers (all P<0.001). At 3 months, 32.8% of the AF patients were dead compared with 19.9% of the non-AF patients (P<0.001). With control for baseline variables, AF increased by almost 50% the probability of remaining disabled (multivariate odds ratio 1.43, 95% CI 1.13 to 1.80) or handicapped (multivariate odds ratio 1.51, 95% CI 1.13 to 2.02). Before stroke, only 8.4% of AF patients were on anticoagulants. The chance of being anticoagulated was reduced by 4% per year of increasing age. AF patients underwent CT scan and other diagnostic procedures less frequently and received less physiotherapy or occupational therapy.
Conclusions—Stroke associated with AF has a poor prognosis in terms of death and function. Prevention and care of stroke with AF is a major challenge for European health systems.
Key Words: atrial fibrillation • prognosis • stroke management • stroke outcome • stroke prevention
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