Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jan 29, 2026

Catheter Ablation in Combination With Left Atrial Appendage Closure for Atrial Fibrillation
28:13

Catheter Ablation in Combination With Left Atrial Appendage Closure for Atrial Fibrillation

Published on: February 26, 2013

33.9K

Anticoagulation in atrial fibrillation and cognitive decline: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Decai Zeng1, ChunLan Jiang, Chunxiao Su

  • 1Department of Ultrasonic Medicine, First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, China.

Medicine
|February 15, 2019
PubMed

Insights

Anticoagulation significantly reduces the risk of cognitive decline in atrial fibrillation (AF) patients, independent of stroke or TIA. However, it offers no additional benefit over antiplatelet therapy for cognitive protection.

Area of Science:

  • Cardiology
  • Neurology
  • Pharmacology

Background:

  • Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a known risk factor for cognitive decline, independent of stroke.
  • The role of anticoagulation in mitigating this cognitive risk in AF patients remains debated.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To systematically review and meta-analyze the effect of anticoagulation on cognitive decline risk in AF patients.

Main Methods:

  • Searched PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane databases up to January 2018.
  • Extracted risk ratios (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for cognitive decline.
  • Pooled estimations using a fixed-effects model and performed subgroup analyses.

Main Results:

  • Included 8 studies with 454,273 patients.
  • Anticoagulation showed a reduced risk of cognitive impairment (RR 0.72, 95% CI 0.69-0.75).
  • This benefit persisted after adjusting for stroke and TIA, but was not superior to antiplatelet treatment (RR 1.01, 95% CI 0.68-1.50).

Conclusions:

  • Anticoagulation provides cognitive benefits in AF patients, independent of stroke and TIA.
  • Anticoagulant therapy is not superior to antiplatelet drugs in reducing cognitive decline risk.
Abstract

More Related Videos

Robotic Ablation of Atrial Fibrillation11:21

Robotic Ablation of Atrial Fibrillation

Published on: May 29, 2015

20.2K
Transesophageal Atrial Burst Pacing for Atrial Fibrillation Induction in Rats05:12

Transesophageal Atrial Burst Pacing for Atrial Fibrillation Induction in Rats

Published on: February 14, 2022

3.8K

Related Concept Videos

Amyloid Fibrils03:03

Amyloid Fibrils

Amyloid fibrils are aggregates of misfolded proteins.  Under most circumstances, misfolded proteins are either refolded by chaperone proteins or degraded by the proteasome. However, in the case of a mutation or a disease, these proteins can accumulate to form large clusters and often further assemble to form elongated fibers, called fibrils. 
Amyloid deposits were observed as early as 1639 in the liver and the spleen.   In 1854, Rudolph Virchow performed iodine staining,...
11.9K
Amyloid Fibrils03:03

Amyloid Fibrils

6.4K
Anticoagulant Drugs: Vitamin K Antagonists and Direct Oral Anticoagulants01:18

Anticoagulant Drugs: Vitamin K Antagonists and Direct Oral Anticoagulants

Oral anticoagulants are vital tools in preventing and treating blood clotting disorders. This diverse class of medications can be categorized as vitamin K antagonists, exemplified by warfarin, and direct thrombin inhibitors (DTIs), such as dabigatran, as well as factor Xa inhibitors, including rivaroxaban.
Warfarin, a prominent vitamin K antagonist family member, exerts its effect by inhibiting the enzyme VKORC1 (vitamin K epoxide reductase complex 1). By hindering this enzyme, warfarin...
2.3K
Magnetic Declination01:19

Magnetic Declination

Magnetic declination is the angle between true north, which aligns with the Earth's rotational axis, and magnetic north, which follows the direction of the Earth's magnetic field. This discrepancy exists because the magnetic poles do not coincide with the geographic poles. The value of magnetic declination depends on the observer's location on Earth and is subject to changes over time due to the dynamic nature of the Earth's magnetic field.The declination is called eastern when magnetic north...
438
Review and Preview01:10

Review and Preview

In statistics, several tools are used to interpret the data. Measures of central tendency represent the characteristics of the data, such as mean, median, and mode. Additionally, measures of variance like standard deviation and range are used to find the spread of data from the mean. Relative standing measures the distance between data locations. Commonly used measures of relative standings are percentile, z score, and quartiles.
Percentiles are a type of fractile that partition data into...
8.4K
Review and Preview01:13

Review and Preview

Data are individual items of information obtained from a population or sample. Data may be classified as qualitative (categorical), quantitative continuous, or quantitative discrete. Because it is not practical to measure the entire population in a study, researchers use samples to represent the population. A random sample is a representative group from the population chosen by using a method that gives each individual in the population an equal chance of being included in the sample. Random...
11.2K