Prevalence and incidence of atrial fibrillation (AF) increase with age, making it the most common cardiac arrhythmia in older people and a growing burden for healthcare services in developed countries [1]. Although AF has been associated with an increased risk of several adverse outcomes (systemic embolism, mortality, heart failure, hospitalization, symptom burden and poor quality of life, cognitive impairment and dementia), ischemic stroke (IS) represents its most feared consequence, accounting for roughly one third of ISs in the elderly.
