Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a very common disease, particularly in the elderly, and the number of affected patients has been predicted to increase in the next decades [1,2]. The existence of a link between AF and ischemic stroke is now well established, with AF being present in around 30% of patients reporting an ischemic stroke, as well as with stroke being the first clinical manifestation of previously unknown AF in over 25% of AF-related strokes [3].
