<unk>  increases the risk of heart<unk> ilure by 11 per 1000, kidney problems by 6 per 1000, death by 4 per 1000, stroke by 3 per 1000, and coronary heart disease by 1 per 1000. Women have a worse outcome overall than men. Evidence increasingly suggests that<unk>  is independently associated with a higher risk of developing dementia. Blood clots Prediction of embolism Among Danish men aged 50, with no risk<unk> ctors, the 5-year risk of stroke was 1.1% and with<unk>  alone 2.5%. For women the risks were slightly less, 0.7% and 2.1%. For men aged 70, the 5-year risk of stroke was 4.8% and with<unk>  alone 6.8%. For women aged 70 the risk was again lower than for men, 3.4% with no added risk<unk> ctor and 8.2% with<unk> . Determining the risk of an embolism causing a stroke is important for guiding the use of anticoagulants. The most accurate clinical prediction rules are: * CHADS2 * CHA2DS2-VASc score Both the CHADS2 and the CHA2DS2-VASc score predict future stroke risk in people with<unk>  with CHA2DS2-VASc score being more accurate. Some that had a CHADS2 score of zero had a CHA2DS2-VASc score of three, with a 3.2% annual risk of stroke. Thus, a CHA2DS2-VASc score of zero is considered very low risk. Mechanism of thrombus formation In<unk> , the lack of an organized atrial contraction can result in some stagnant blood in the left atrium (LA) or left atrial appendage (LAA). This lack of movement of blood can lead to thrombus formation (blood clotting). If the clot becomes mobile and is carried away by the blood circulation, it is called an embolus. An embolus proceeds through smaller and smaller arteries until it plugs one of them and prevents blood from flowing through the artery. This process results in end organ damage due to the loss of nutrients, oxygen, and the removal of cellular waste products. Emboli in the brain may result in an ischemic stroke or a transient ischemic attack (TIA). More than 90% of cases of thrombi associated with non-valvular<unk>  evolve in the left atrial appendage. However, the LAA lies in close relation to the free wall of the left ventricle, and thus the LAA's emptying and filling, which determines its degree of blood stagnation, may be helped by the motion of the wall of the left ventricle if there is good ventricular function. Dementia<unk>  has been independently associated with a higher risk of developing cognitive impairment, vascular dementia, and Alzheimer disease. Several mechanisms for this association have been proposed, including silent small blood clots (subclinical microthrombi) traveling to the brain resulting in small ischemic strokes without symptoms, altered blood flow to the brain, inflammation, clinically silent small bleeds in the brain, and genetic<unk> ctors. Tentative evidence suggests that effective anticoagulation with direct oral anticoagulants or warfarin may be somewhat protective against<unk> -associated dementia and evidence of silent ischemic strokes on MRI but this remains an active area of investigation.
Atrial fibrillation
Arrhythmia
Atrial flutter
Sinus arrhythmia
Ventricular flutter
Supraventricular tachycardia
Torsades de pointes
Atrial tachycardia