Answer to question of the day – atrial fibrillation
July 6th, 2009
The answer is….. b. Warfarin
Based on NICE Guidance 36 (AF) and the CHADS 2 scoring system.
The CHADS2 score is an excellent aide memoir to anticoagulation in AF. It is based on:
| CHADS2 | Stands for | Score |
| C | Congestive heart failure | 1point |
| H | hypertension | 1point |
| A | Age>75 | 1point |
| D | Diabetes Mellitus | 1point |
| S2 | Previous stroke/ TIA | 2 points |
SCORE
- 2 or over=Warfarin
- 1= Warfarin or aspirin
- 0=aspirin
This means our chap here will score:
- 1 for being >75
- 1 for being hypertensive
This means he should be treated with warfarin (assuming he has no contraindications)
A link to the original publication citation in circulation is available here. (link will open in a new window)
For readers not from the UK, NICE guidance is not ‘guidance its the national institute of clinical excellence!!!
PS my spellchecker wanted to change guidance to misguidance! hmmmmm