Title: The risk of silent AF

Presentor(s)	T. Lewalter, Bonn (GE)
Episode	70
Year	2008
Duration	14:48

Shownotes    In the field of atrial fibrillation (AF) the most important aspect is Thromboembolism. A severe thrombus formation can lead to death due to recurrent strokes. One of the questions we need to answer in order to protect our patients is if silent AF is different from symptomatic AF. An AFFIRM sub analysis showed that asymptomatic AF patients demonstrated a higher rate of stroke or transient ischemic attack compared to symptomatic AF patients. This is due to a lower rate of Oral Anticoagulation (OAC). This means we have no evidence that symptoms make a difference regarding the risk of AF but that we need to decide carefully which patients need OAC. In 15 minutes Prof. Lewalter explains how big the risk of a stroke due to AF can be.