Which scores should use cardiologist to predict outcomes in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation?

Tareev Clinic of Internal Diseases, Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, Moscow, Russia Management of patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) includes anticoagulation for prevention of stroke and systemic embolism, improvement of AF-related symptoms by rate or rhythm control, and treatment for cardiovascular and other comorbidities. The structured characterization of AF should address four AF-related domains, that is, stroke risk, symptom severity, AF burden (type of AF, number and duration of episodes, etc.), and substrate severity. Various scores, i.e.CHA 2 DS 2 -VASc (stroke risk), HAS-BLED (bleeding risk), EHRA (severity of AF-related symptoms), and 2MACE (risk of cardiovascular events), can be used to estimate the risk of outcomes and for treatment decisions. Noteworthy, bleeding risk assessment using HAS-BLED score focuses attention on modifiable risk factors that should be managed to improve safety of anticoagulation, whereas a high bleeding risk score should not lead to withholding oral anticoagulants. New clini- cal and biomarker-based risk scores were developed. However, their potential advantages over existing scores should be confirmed in clinical studies.