Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Comment
  • Published:

The ABC pathway: an integrated approach to improve AF management

The Atrial fibrillation Better Care (ABC) pathway for integrated management provides a simple strategy (Avoid stroke, Better symptom management, and Cardiovascular and comorbidity risk reduction) that helps to improve awareness and detection, and reminds clinicians of the simple decision-making steps for management of patients with atrial fibrillation in a holistic approach.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: The Atrial fibrillation Better Care (ABC) pathway for integrated care management.

References

  1. Lip, G. Y. H. et al. Stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation: past, present and future. Comparing the guidelines and practical decision-making. Thromb. Haemost. 117, 1230–1239 (2017).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Thrall, G. et al. Depression, anxiety, and quality of life in patients with atrial fibrillation. Chest 132, 1259–1264 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Gallagher, C. et al. Integrated care in atrial fibrillation: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Heart http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/heartjnl-2016-310952 (2017).

  4. Apostolakis, S. et al. Factors affecting quality of anticoagulation control among patients with atrial fibrillation on warfarin: the SAMe-TT2R2 score. Chest 144, 1555–1563 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Azoulay, L. et al. Initiation of warfarin in patients with atrial fibrillation: early effects on ischaemic strokes. Eur. Heart J. 35, 1881–1887 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Lip, G. Y. et al. Relationship of the SAMe-TT2R2 score to poor-quality anticoagulation, stroke, clinically relevant bleeding, and mortality in patients with atrial fibrillation. Chest 146, 719–726 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Kalman, J. M. et al. Should we perform catheter ablation for asymptomatic atrial fibrillation? Circulation 136, 490–499 (2017).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Van Gelder, I. C. et al. Lenient versus strict rate control in patients with atrial fibrillation. N. Engl. J. Med. 362, 1363–1373 (2010).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Clarkesmith, D. E. et al. Educational intervention improves anticoagulation control in atrial fibrillation patients: the TREAT randomised trial. PLoS ONE 8, e74037 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Raparelli, V. et al. Adherence to oral anticoagulant therapy in patients with atrial fibrillation. Focus on non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants. Thromb. Haemost. 117, 209–218 (2016).

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gregory Y. H. Lip.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The author has been a consultant for Bayer/Janssen, Biotronik, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS)/Pfizer, Daiichi-Sankyo, Medtronic, Novartis, and Verseon; and a speaker for Bayer, BMS/Pfizer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Daiichi-Sankyo, and Medtronic. No fees are received personally.

PowerPoint slides

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Lip, G. The ABC pathway: an integrated approach to improve AF management. Nat Rev Cardiol 14, 627–628 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrcardio.2017.153

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrcardio.2017.153

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing