ARIC Substudy: CHA₂DS₂-VASc Can Assess Ischemic Stroke Risk

Researchers for this Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) substudy included participants in the study (1996-1998) who had no prior atrial fibrillation (AF), stroke, or anticoagulant use (n=10,671). The researchers also obtained incident AF data from study ECGs and hospital discharge codes. Stroke was physician-adjudicated. The hazard ratios (95% CI for all) for thrombotic stroke were 1 (reference), 1.71 (1.13-2.59), 2.92 (1.91-4.45), 3.22 (1.70-6.11), and 1.25 (0.17-9.09), with CHA₂DS₂-VASc scores of 0-1, 2, 3, 4, and ≥5, respectively. The hazard ratios for embolic stroke were 1 (ref), 4.91 (2.10-11.5), 7.07 (2.93-17.0), 14.8 (5.50-39.6), and 15.2 (3.16-73.3), with CHA₂DS₂-VASc scores of 0-1, 2, 3, 4, and ≥5, respectively. “In community-dwelling individuals without AF, the CHA₂DS₂-VASc score can assess ischemic stroke risk and has good discriminatory capacity for embolic stroke,” the authors concluded.

Koene R, Alraies M, Norby F, et al. Am J Cardiol. 2018;doi:10.1016/j.amjcard.2018.10.037

https://www.ajconline.org/article/S0002-9149(18)32052-6/fulltext