Update on pharmacologic approaches to prevent thromboembolism in atrial fibrillation: are thrombin and factor Xa inhibitors the ultimate answer?

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common clinically relevant cardiac arrhythmia. Prevalence and incidence rates are rising with the advancing population age. A severe complication of untreated AF is thrombus formation in the left atrial appendage with consecutive peripheral thromboembolism.