Grant: Travel Awards - Institute Community Support

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common heart rhythm problem and a common reason for presentation to the Emergency Department (ED). Our objective was to compare the rates of stroke and death between patients who attending the ED with a first-ever episode of AF and those who were making a repeat visit. We used RE-LY AF registry of patients who presented to the ED with AF in 47 countries to compare differences between 5225 patients with first-diagnosed and 9637 with recurrent AF. Patients with first-diagnosed AF were younger (63 vs. 67 years), had lower rates of heart failure (25% vs. 40%) and prior stroke (10% vs. 16%). They were also less likely to be prescribed blood thinners for stroke prevention (49% vs. 57%). Patients with first-diagnosed AF had slightly lower rates of stroke (9.7% vs. 11.4%) and death (3.3% vs. 4.4%) in the first year after the ER visit. After controlling for risk factors using statistical techniques, there was no difference in the risks of stroke and death between first-diagnosed and recurrent AF. Conclusions In this large global cohort of patients attending the ED with AF, patients with first-diagnosed AF had similar rates of stroke and death as patients with recurrent AF, yet a significantly smaller proportion of them were prescribed blood thinners for stroke prevention.