Investigations

• global left ventricular dysfunction ^a  
• an enlarged left atrium ^a
• occult mitral stenosis ^d

Global LV dysfunction or an enlarged atrium may increase the risk of stroke

Patient a	Prognostic Factor	Outcome	CER	RR (95% CI)	NNF+ (95% CI)
atrial fibrillation	global LV dysfunction independent	stroke or systemic embolism at 1.5 years	6.0%	2.0 (1.0 to 4.0)	17 (6 to infinity)
	enlarged left atrium independent		3.9%	1.0 (1.0 to 2.5)	infinity (17 to infinity)