The risk of cerebral infarction in non-valvular atrial fibrillation: effects of age, hypertension and antihypertensive treatment.

The stroke risk was studied on 600 subjects with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) compared with the general population. The age-matched relative risk of stroke was highest in the 41- to 50-year-old population (12.6) but decreased with age (8.2 for 51-60 years, 3.6 for 61-70 years, and 2.6 for 71-80 years) owing to the increase in stroke incidence with age in the general population. There was no particularly vulnerable period for stroke from NVAF diagnosis until the 15the year. Stroke incidence was greater in hypertensives than in normotensives, but was not different between treated and untreated subjects among hypertensives.