• Alejandra Gullón, Carmen Suárez, Jesús Díez-Manglano, Francesc Formiga, José María Cepeda, Antonio Pose, Miguel Camafort, Jesús Castiella, Eduardo Rovira, José María Mostaza, and en representación de los investigadores del estudio NONAVASC.
• Servicio de Medicina Interna, Hospital Universitario de La Princesa. Madrid, España. Electronic address: a.gullon.ojesto@hotmail.com.
• Med Clin (Barc). 2017 Mar 3; 148 (5): 204-210.

Background And ObjetivesThe prevalence of non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) increases with the patient's age and is associated with high morbi-mortality rates. The main goal of this study was to describe the characteristics of hospitalized elderly patients with NVAF and to identify the clinical and functional factors which determine the use of different antithrombotic strategies.Patients And MethodsObservational, prospective, multicentre study carried out on patients with NVAF over the age of 75, who had been admitted for any medical condition to Internal Medicine departments.ResultsWe evaluated 804 patients with a mean age of 85 years (range 75-101), of which 53.9% were females. The prevalence of risk factors and cardiovascular disease was high: hypertension (87.6%), heart failure (65.4%), ischemic cardiomyopathy (24.4%), cerebrovascular disease (22.4%) and chronic kidney disease (45%). Among those cases with previous diagnoses of NVAF, antithrombotic treatment was prescribed in 86.2% of patients: anticoagulants (59.7%), antiplatelet medication (17.8%) and double therapy (8.7%). The factors associated with the use of antithrombotic treatment were history of acute coronary syndrome and atrial fibrillation progression longer than one year. Older age, atrial fibrillation for less than one year, higher HAS-BLED scores and severe cognitive impairment were associated with the use of anti-platelet drugs. Permanent atrial fibrillation favoured the use of anticoagulants.ConclusionsHospitalized patients older than 75 years old with NVAF showed numerous comorbidities. The percentage of anticoagulation was small and 18% received only anti-platelet therapy. The patient's age, atrial fibrillation's progression time and the severity of the cognitive impairment influenced this therapy choice.Copyright © 2016 Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

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