Atrial fibrillation and cognitive impairment: cerebral microbleeds as a new risk factor and possibilities of anticoagulant therapy (Part 2)

Atrial fibrillation (AF) and cognitive impairment (CI) are among the most important problems of the modern health care system, which are characterized by an extremely high prevalence with the increasing trend of the latter; they lead to lower quality of life, shorter duration, and a larger number of disabled people. The specific feature of AF and CI is the presence of common risk factors. To date, the data of an increasing number of studies allow cerebral microbleeds (CMBs) to be considered as a new risk factor for CI, inter alia in patients with AF. In recent years, special attention has been paid to the role of oral anticoagulants (OACs) in the prevention of CI in AF, which is reflected in a number of studies and meta-analyses. In terms of the effect of OACs on the risk of CMBs, there is reason to believe that the latter increases with the use of warfarin, the effects of direct OACs (DOAC) in this regard require further investigation. At the same time, among the DOACs, apixaban is the only drug that has been proven to have no negative effect on the risk of CMBs in a randomized controlled clinical trial. In general, the available data indicate the positive effect of OACs in reducing the risk of CI and dementia in AF; moreover, DOACs have an advantage in this respect. Among the DOACs, apixaban is promising due to its optimal efficacy and safety profile.