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Old Age a Risk Factor for Brain Hemorrhage

Posted on: Wednesday, 2 August 2006, 15:00 CDT

Older patients with atrial fibrillation have higher rates of major hemorrhage in the brain with or without using blood thinners, says a U.S. study.

Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco; Massachusetts General Hospital; the Division of Research at Kaiser Permanente; and Boston University School of Medicine used a sample of 13,559 patients with atrial fibrillation and examined how rates of major hemorrhage changed with age.

They found older age is an independent risk factor for developing bleeding in the body, and in particular bleeding in the brain, known as intracranial hemorrhage.

Atrial fibrillation is the most common cardiac arrhythmia and a major risk factor for stroke. Prior studies have shown that anticoagulation medication such as warfarin substantially reduces the risk of atrial fibrillation-related stroke but also increases the risk for hemorrhage.

Our findings show that although older patients have a greater risk for hemorrhage, the overall likelihood of hemorrhage on warfarin is relatively small, especially when one considers the benefits of stroke prevention, said lead author Dr. Margaret Fang of the UCSF Medical Center. Carefully monitored warfarin therapy can be used with reasonable safety in older patients.

The findings are published in Thursday's Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

Source: United Press International

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