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Stroke

Atrial fibrillation, stroke prevention therapy and aging

Stroke risk in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation increases markedly with age. Although anticoagulation is more effective than antiplatelet therapy in atrial fibrillation, it tends to be underutilized in the elderly. A study by van Walraven et al. examines the influence of age on stroke prevention therapy in atrial fibrillation.

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J. David Spence is a consultant for Novartis and has been on the speaker's bureau/honoraria for Pfizer, Novartis, Merck Schering, Astra Zeneca and Boehringer Ingelheim.

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Spence, J. Atrial fibrillation, stroke prevention therapy and aging. Nat Rev Cardiol 6, 448–450 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrcardio.2009.98

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