Circulation Editors' Picks: Most Read Articles in Heart Failure, Part I

Dr Kan and colleagues have raised several issues relative to our report of the Warfarin and Antiplatelet Therapy in Chronic Heart Failure (WATCH) trial.1 Although all patients were in sinus rhythm at the time of entry, Dr Kan et al raise the important issue of the potential for the undetected occurrence of primarily paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (PAF) or persistent AF to have increased the risk of thromboembolic events, particularly strokes, which occurred in 12 patients (2.3%) in both the aspirin and clopidogrel groups and 3 patients (0.6%) in the warfarin group (both comparisons achieved nominal statistical significance with P =0.016). Because there was no systematic ECG monitoring for AF occurrence in WATCH, it is certainly possible that …