title: [Increased thromboembolic risk in atrial fibrillation and stroke prevention in women].
abstract: Female sex is a recognized risk factor for atrial fibrillation (AF) and ischemic stroke associated with AF, which is in part related to higher prevalence of comorbidities such as diabetes and heart failure. In recent years the proportion of anticoagulated women with AF is similar to that for men. Women receiving vitamin K antagonists (VKA) are more prone to have unstable anticoagulation and experience stroke during such prevention, in particular in individuals aged > or = 75 years. New oral anticoagulants recently approved for prevention of stroke in patients with nonvalvular AF are at least as efficacious as dose-adjusted warfarin in both women and men. The risk of bleeding on these new drugs is also similar in both sexes. The current review summarizes the epidemiological and pathophysiological data on the risk of thromboembolic events in women with AF and therapeutic challenges of stroke prevention in women.
authors.forename: Anetta
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Undas
mesh_terms: D001281:Atrial Fibrillation / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D015984:Causality; D015897:Comorbidity; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D020521:Stroke / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D013923:Thromboembolism / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016387:Women's Health