What is the risk of intracranial hemorrhage in AF patients with acute ischemic stroke?
Intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) is the most feared, often lethal, complication of antithrombotic (anticoagulant and antiplatelet) therapy and causes about 1 in 10 strokes in AF patients with acute ischemic stroke. ICH is caused by the rupture of a cerebral artery or arteriole, most often a small vessel affected by either hypertensive arteriopathy or cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA).