4,000 strokes were prevented in England between 2015 and 2016 due to the increased use of anticoagulant drugs among patients with a common heart rhythm disorder, according to new analysis part-funded by British Heart Foundation (BHF) and published in the European Heart Journal.
Atrial fibrillation (AF) has been diagnosed in around 1.3 million people in the UK, with a further 500,000 people believed to be living undiagnosed and unaware that they are at a five-fold higher risk of stroke compared to those unaffected.
The BHF have said that the findings highlight the urgent need for better screening and diagnosis of AF to ensure that patients receive the clot-busting treatment which could prevent a devastating stroke.
A BHF-funded team from the University of Leeds used national data and insight provided from Imperial College Health Partners to analyse the known patients with AF, episodes of stroke, new AF diagnoses, and the use of anticoagulants among high-risk patients between 2006 and 2016.
They found that, since 2009, the number of people with AF who are being treated with anticoagulants has more than doubled.
The researchers estimate that, had the uptake of anticoagulants stayed at 2009 levels, there would have been around 4,000 more strokes in patients with AF in England in the 2015 / 16 financial year.
Stroke is the fourth biggest killer in the UK and the leading cause of disability and in 2016, killed almost twice as many women as breast cancer.
AF is the most common type of irregular heartbeat; it causes the heart’s chambers to beat in an uncoordinated, irregular manner. AF can cause blood to pool in the heart, which can form into a blood clot. It this clot travels to the brain it can block the blood supply, leading to a stroke.
The researchers have said that the increase in uptake is likely thanks to efforts across the health service to educate patients and doctors about the benefits of anticoagulation, changes to guidelines in the UK and Europe, and new types of anticoagulants which provide a safer and more convenient alternative to warfarin, which requires consistent monitoring and an added risk of major bleeds.
Professor Chris Gale, Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine, and Honorary Consultant Cardiologist at the University of Leeds, who co-authored the study, commented, ‘Sudden strokes in people who have AF are unnecessarily common. Treatments which prevent AF-related strokes are saving lives, but there are still many thousands of people in the UK living with undiagnosed AF who are missing out.
‘The risk of AF rises dramatically with age. Our ageing population makes it clear that without intervention, cases of AF and associated strokes are only going to increase. It’s a truly preventable public health crisis.’
