Prevalence, Mechanisms, and Management of Ischemic Stroke in Heart Failure Patients

Heart failure (HF) and stroke, two of the major causes of death worldwide, are closely associated. Although atrial fibrillation (AF), which occurs in more than half of patients with HF, is a major risk factor for stroke, there is a great deal of evidence that HF itself increases the risk of stroke independent of AF. The main mechanism of stroke appears to be thromboembolism. However, previous studies have failed to demonstrate the benefit of...