Atrial Fibrillation

Every year around 75,000 Americans learn that they have atrial fibrillation (AFib)--the most common type of arrhythmia, or abnormal heart rhythm. While the abnormal rhythm itself isn’t generally serious; abnormal blood flow and strain to the heart can lead to serious medical conditions. These conditions can be deadly—having AFib doubles a person’s risk of death.

Download The Facts About AFib to learn more about risk factors, what it means to have AFib, and making the right
treatment decision for you or a loved one.

To learn more about how people and the health care system are impacted by atrial fibrillation, visit The Silver Book: Thrombosis. Watch the launch event on-line.

Optimal Treatment Task Force

One of the most serious risks of AFib is stroke—around 15% of all strokes occur in people with AFib. The irregular heart rhythm can leave blood behind to pool and clot in the chambers of the heart. That clot can then be pumped out to other parts of the circulatory system. If it makes its way to the brain it blocks blood flow and causes a stroke.

Anticoagulants—medications that make it less likely to clot—reduce the risk of stroke in AFib patients by as much as 80%. Unfortunately, they are rarely a simple solution. There are new drugs entering the market that will offer more options, but for now warfarin is the most commonly used anticoagulant. At the same time that it lowers stroke risk, it raises bleeding risk. Unintentional injuries and cuts can cause bleeding since the body’s ability to clot is decreased by the drugs. Internal bleeding, or hemorrhaging, can lead to serious problems if it happens in the GI system or the brain.

This means that health care professionals must walk a tightrope when deciding how to treat AFib patients—balancing the risk of stroke with the risk of bleeds. Thankfully there are many tools available to help them do this. These tools walk the health care professional through a list of sorts, assigning points for each risk factor. Their final score helps decide if the risk of stroke outweighs the risk of bleeds—or the other way around.

The problem is that these tools are complicated, not always used by physicians, and missing critical risk factors—like increasing age. This is why the Alliance for Aging Research has formed a task force for optimal treatment. This task force is made up of patient and professional groups who will raise awareness of the disease, push for new treatment tools, and help experts form consensus on what should be in them. Better treatment decisions will not only save lives but will lead to better lives with fewer appointments, hospitalizations, and disabilities. Watch the launch event and read the official press release.

AHRQ Effective Health Care Program Comments

On October 14, 2011, the Task Force members filed comments on AHRQ's key questions related to the EHC CER review of stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation. Read more here.

Expert Roundtable

In order to forge consensus about the best treatment tools for stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation patients, the Afib Optimal Treatment Task Force convened an expert roundtable in Washington DC on January 18th. To view the agenda and meeting materials read the roundtable briefing book. Check back for the consensus statement and whitepaper.