Atrial fibrillation is the most common heart rhythm disorder in the Western world.
In the United States it affects about three million people; in Italy, an estimated 600-700 thousand people are affected, mostly after age 65 and particularly after age 80.
In addition to the characteristic cardiac discomforts and reduced quality of life for sufferers, this aging-related cardiac arrhythmia leads to a significant increase in cardiovascular risk and especially in the likelihood of experiencing a stroke.
Stroke associated with atrial fibrillation is usually of the “cardioembolic” type, that is, determined by the formation of clots within the atria of the heart, which enter the circulation through the aorta and come to occlude the smaller caliber arteries present in the brain, resulting in cerebral ischemia.
Atrial fibrillation often arises as a complication of other cardiac disorders and, in particular, heart failure, further worsening the (already compromised) clinical picture of patients and accelerating their progression to more severe stages.
