Reliable Identification of “Truly Low” Thromboembolic Risk in Patients Initially Diagnosed With “Lone” Atrial Fibrillation

The CHA2DS2-VASc (Congestive heart failure, Hypertension, Age ≥75 years, Diabetes mellitus, previous Stroketransient ischemic attack TIA, Vascular disease, Age 65–74 years, and Sex category female gender) schema recently has been introduced to complement the CHADS2(Congestive heart failure, Hypertension, Age >75 years, Diabetes mellitus, and previous stroke or TIA) score and improve the identification of atrial fibrillation (AF) patients at “truly low risk” for thromboembolism. We tested the predictive ability of the CHA2DS2-VASc, CHADS2, and van Walraven risk stratification schemes in a cohort of “lone” AF patients with a 12-year follow-up.