Systemic Inflammation and Recurrence After Atrial Fibrillation-Related Stroke: An Individual Participant Data Meta-Analysis - PubMed
4 days ago
- #stroke recurrence
- #inflammation
- #atrial fibrillation
- Systemic inflammation is linked to recurrence after atrial fibrillation (AF)-related stroke, despite anticoagulation.
- Patients with AF-related stroke were excluded from recent trials of anti-inflammatory therapies, creating uncertainty about the role of inflammation in recurrence.
- This study analyzed individual participant data from 11 prospective studies involving 10,080 patients (2,134 with AF).
- Inflammatory markers (IL-6 and hsCRP) were higher in patients with AF, persisting beyond the acute phase.
- hsCRP was associated with recurrent major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs) in both AF and non-AF patients, but not with recurrent stroke.
- IL-6 showed no significant interaction with AF status for MACEs or recurrent stroke.
- The findings support including AF patients in anti-inflammatory therapy trials and selecting patients based on elevated inflammatory markers rather than stroke etiology alone.