Anticoagulation/ Ischemic Stroke

[cuore]

We all need to be anticoagulated to help prevent the dreaded stroke. The paper below gives a different take for those who have already had an Ischemic stroke.

practiceupdate.com/C/97178/...

[MarkS]

Once I had fought through the sign on pages, the conclusion to the paper is that the risk for recurrent ischemic stroke may be higher in NVAF-associated stroke patients with prior anticoagulation than in those without prior anticoagulation.

That is not surprising. What it means is that if you were previously on anticoagulation and had a first stroke despite this, then you have a much higher risk of stroke anyway due to other health issues, shape of left atrial appendage, etc. So that means that you are at greater risk of a 2nd stroke compared with someone who had a first stroke without anticoagulation. That person will benefit a lot more by being put on an anticoagulant than someone who was already on one.

It doesn't mean that if you were on anticoagulation and have a stroke that you should stop taking anticoagulants.

[cuore in reply to MarkS]

Thank you, MarkS, for clarifying.