Epidemiological approach to the atrial fibrillation patients

Atrial fibrilasyon (AF) klinik pratikte en sık görülen arit midir. En korkulan komplikasyonu tromboembolik olaylar olup tüm inmelerin % 15’inden tek başına sorumludur. AF’nin yol açtığı bu önemli komplikasyonu önlemenin en etkin yolu antikoagulasyondur. Antikoagülasyonu sağla mak için son dönemlerde ortaya çıkan yeni oral antiko agülanlarla ilgili çekincelerden dolayı altın standart ajan olarak warfarin hala üstünlüğünü sürdürmektedir. Efektif antikoagülasyon sağlamada kullanılan farmakolojik ajan- ların yanı sıra hastanın demografik özellikleri de (yaş, cinsiyet, AF tipi, komorbid durumlar vb.) büyük önem ta- şımaktadır. AF hastalarının demografik karakteristiği ve oral antikoagülan ilaç kullanım profili ile ilgili yapılan çalış- malar çoğunlukla Batı ve Uzakdoğu kökenli olduğundan ülkemizin gerçek karakteristiğini yansıtmamaktadır. Bu çalışmayla ülkemizde AF hastalarında yapılmış olan epi- demiyolojik çalışmalar analiz edilerek toplumumuz ile ilgili verileri literatüre kazandırmayı amaçladık.

Atriyal fibrilasyon hastalarına epidemiyolojik yaklaşım

Atrial Fibrillation (AF) is the most common arrhythmia observed in clinical practice. While the thromboembolic events are the most feared complications, these com plications alone are responsible for 15% of all strokes. Anticoagulation therapy is the most effective way to pre vent this significant complication caused by AF. Due to the disadvantages related to the recently launched new oral anticoagulants, warfarin still maintains its dominance as the gold standard agent. Pharmaceutical agents as well as demographic characteristics (age, sex, the type of AF, co-morbidities etc.) of the patients are crucial to provide effective coagulation. Since most of the studies on demographic characteristics of AF patients and the profile of oral anticoagulant use originate from the West and Far East, they do not reflect the real characteristics of our country. In this study, by analyzing the epidemiologi cal studies conducted among AF patients in our country, we aimed to bring literature in data related to our society.

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