Key result
Antithrombotic therapies remain the cornerstone of cardioembolic stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation, while the optimal management of other conditions like patent foramen ovale remains controversial.
This review highlights the evolving landscape of cardioembolic stroke prevention, including the transition from traditional coumarins to new generation anticoagulants and the role of invasive techniques like PFO closure.
Supports antithrombotic use in AF; leaves optimal PFO strategies unresolved pending prospective trials.
Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common cause of cardioembolism. An update on secondary prevention strategies, used to protect patients from the risk of stroke in many common cardiac conditions, is presented in the paper. The main line of actions of stroke prevention in cardioembolism is mostly connected with antithrombotic drugs, but also other, more invasive, techniques are quickly emerging. Also the classic pharmacological prevention with coumarins may soon be overcome by new generation anticoagulants. Is an aggressive treatment of Patent Foramen Ovale (PFO) always recommended? One of the main challenges of the future years will be to understand competitiveness between old and new preventive strategies.
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Giacalone et al. (2010) conducted a review in Cardioembolic stroke. Cardioembolic stroke prevention strategies was evaluated. Antithrombotic therapies remain the cornerstone of cardioembolic stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation, while the optimal management of other conditions like patent foramen ovale remains controversial.
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