Early versus Later Anticoagulation for Stroke with Atrial Fibrillation

Urs Fischer¹, Masatoshi Koga¹, Daniel Strbian¹+63

• ¹From the Department of Neurology, University Hospital Basel, University of Basel, Basel (U.F., T.K.), the Department of Neurology (U.F., S.A., K.N., M.G., M.A., C. Ferrari, S.B., C.B., D.J.S., T.H.), the Support Center for Advanced Neuroimaging, Institute of Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology (B.J.W.), and the Institute for Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology (S.F., B.R.-K., A.H., J.G.), University Hospital Bern, and CTU Bern (M.B., S.T.), Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine (G.S.), University of Bern, Bern, the Department of Neurology, University Hospital Lausanne, University of Lausanne, Lausanne (P.M., A.S.), the Department of Neurology, Cantonal Hospital Aarau, Aarau (K.N., T.K.), the Research Department, Reha Rheinfelden, Rheinfelden (L.H.B.), and the Department of Neurology, Cantonal Hospital St. Gallen, St. Gallen (J.V.) - all in Switzerland; the Departments of Cerebrovascular Medicine (M. Koga, K.T.) and Neurology (T.Y.), National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center, Osaka, the Division of Neurology, Department of Medicine, Jichi Medical University, Tochigi (K.M.), and the Department of Neurology, Kansai Medical University, Hirakata (Y.Y.) - all in Japan; the Department of Neurology, Helsinki University Hospital, and University of Helsinki, Helsinki (D.S., M.T., S.R.); Internal, Vascular, and Emergency Medicine, Stroke Unit, Santa Maria della Misericordia Hospital, University of Perugia, Perugia (M.P., D.G.), and the Department of Human Neurosciences, University La Sapienza, Rome (N.C.) - both in Italy; the Department of Neurology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg (G.T.), the Department of Neurology, Heidelberg University Hospital (C.G.), and the Department of Neurology, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg (A.A.), Heidelberg, the Department of Neurology and Stroke and the Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research, Tübingen University, Tübingen (S.P.), and the Department of Neurosurgery, Medical Center, University of Freiburg, Freiburg (C. Fung) - all in Germany; the Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Thessaly, Larissa, Greece (G.N.); the Department of Neurology, and the Division of Neuroradiology, Vascular and Interventional Radiology, Department of Radiology, Medical University of Graz, Graz (T.G., M. Kneihsl), and the Department of Neurology 2, Kepler University Hospital, Johannes Kepler University, Linz (C.K.) - both in Austria; the Department of Neurology, Oslo University Hospital (E.-C.S.), the Department of General Practice, University of Oslo (E.K.), and the Norwegian Air Ambulance Foundation (E.-C.S.), Oslo, and the Department of Neurology, Akershus University Hospital, Lørenskog (E.K.) - all in Norway; the Department of Neurology, Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, Dublin (P.K.); KU Leuven, Department of Neurosciences, Experimental Neurology, and the Department of Neurology, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven (R.L., J. Demeestere), the Department of Neurology, Comprehensive Stroke Unit, CHC MontLégia Hospital, Liège (P.D.), the Department of Neurology, Algemeen Ziekenhuis Groeninge Kortrijk, Kortrijk (P.V.), the Neurovascular Center and Stroke Unit Antwerp, Antwerp University Hospital, and the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Antwerp, Antwerp (P.V.), and the Department of Neurology, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent (D.H.) - all in Belgium; Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram, India (P.N.S.); the Stroke Center, Lisbon Central University Hospital (D.A.S., A.P.N.) and Faculty of Medicine, University of Lisbon (D.A.S.) - both in Lisbon, Portugal; the Department of Neurology, Shaare Zedek Medical Center, Jerusalem (N.M.B.); the Department of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine, Pavol Jozef Safarik University, and University Hospital Louis Pasteur - both in Košice, Slovakia (Z.G.); Glan Clwyd Hospital, Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, Rhyl (H.T., R.H.), the Stroke Unit, Morriston Hospital, Swansea Bay University Health Board, Swansea (M. Krishnan, P.S.), the Stroke Department, University Hospital of North Durham, Durham (G.C.S.), the Department of Neurology, St. George's University Hospital (L.Z.), and the Stroke Research Centre, Department of Brain Repair and Rehabilitation, University College London Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London (D.J.W.), London, and the School of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Health, University of Glasgow, Glasgow (J. Dawson) - all in the United Kingdom; and the Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, and the Department of Neurology, Sahlgrenska University Hospital - both in Gothenburg, Sweden (T.T.).