Reiffel - Atrial Fibrillation and Stroke: Epidemiology - Figure 24

Risk Stratification: CHADS2

The Figure shows the scoring for the principal risk factors in the CHADS₂ scoring system. [38] [39] These are the factors that are added to the presence of AFib to calculate the risk for a future stroke, including:

older age – CHADS₂ uses an age of >75 years, but in fact the risk begins at age 65
hypertension (either a history of elevated blood pressure or treatment for hypertension)
diabetes mellitus
left ventricular (LV) dysfunction
prior embolism,
rheumatic valve disease or the presence of mechanical valve protheses.

Each of these risk markers gets 1 point, except prior stroke or transient (cerebral) ischemic attack (TIA), which gets 2 points, and the higher the total point score, the greater the risk for a future stroke.

Reiffel JA. Am J Med 2013; 126: 00-00.

Complete references for all slides

References

[38] Gage BF, Waterman AD, Shannon W, Boechler M, Rich MW, Radford MJ. Validation of clinical classification schemes for predicting stroke: results from the National Registry of Atrial Fibrillation. JAMA. 2001;285:2864-2870.

[39] Gage BF, van Walraven C, Pearce L, et al. Selecting patients with atrial fibrillation for anticoagulation: stroke risk stratification in patients taking aspirin. Circulation. 2004;110:2287-2292.