Abstract

The CHA2 DS2-VASc score was created as a predictive instrument of risk of embolic stroke occurrence in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF), for therapeutic decisions. This score was not created as a tool to assess ischemic stroke severity in patients with AF, although the components of the score are associated with the formation, size, and growth of thrombus in the left atrium. Based on this, we assessed the possible utility of CHA2 DS2-VASc score as a predictor of ischemic stroke severity in patients with stroke and AF, using the simplified 6S score as an indicator. Observational, prospective, and cross-sectional study, in which the CHA2 DS2-VASc score was evaluated concerning the degree of ischemic stroke severity, using the 6S score as a reference for correlation analysis in patients hospitalized with stroke and AF in the emergency room of the Ciudad Hospitalaria “Dr. Enrique Tejera”, from January-September 2022. The median age was 71 [41-76] years, 55.3% were female, 85.9% had hypertension; 42.4% diabetes, 31.8% previous stroke; 14% heart failure and 16.5% had previous AF. Only 5.9% of the patients received anticoagulation when admitted. The median [p25-p75] was 5 [4-6] points for the CHA2 DS2-VASc score and 11 [8-11] points for 6S score. Both scores had a significant association (19.2%, R = 0.19, p <0.001. This study using the 6S severity score as an indicator, showed that CHA2 DS2-VASc, could be a useful clinical tool to predict stroke severity.