An overview of stroke and the impact of atrial fibrillation.

As the third-leading cause of death in the United States, stroke has a very significant impact on patients and the total healthcare burden. Many factors that increase the risk of stroke are modifiable, and changes in these factors can provide effective avenues toward significantly reducing the incidence of stroke. Atrial fibrillation (AF) is one such risk factor; it is strongly associated with an elevation of stroke risk that can be greatly diminished using antithrombotic therapy. However, currently recommended prevention measures, particularly oral vitamin K antagonists, are underused due to difficulties associated with their use. There is an evident need for oral anticoagulant drugs with a wide therapeutic range, which do not require international normalized ratio monitoring and have a safe bleeding profile. By targeting patients with AF for stroke prevention treatment through greater use of long-term anticoagulation therapy, the burden of stroke can be substantially reduced.