CHA2DS2-VASc score and clinical outcomes of patients with acute coronary syndrome

Background The CHA2DS2-VASc score has been recommended for the assessment of thromboembolic risk in patients with atrial fibrillation. Hypothesis The CHA2DS2-VASc score may be associated with adverse outcomes in patients with ACS. Methods Included were patients with ACS enrolled in the Acute Coronary Syndrome Israeli biennial Surveys (ACSIS) during 2000–2013. Patients were divided into 4 groups according to their CHA2DS2-VASc score (0 or 1, 2 or 3, 4 or 5, and > 5). The primary endpoint was 1-year all-cause mortality. Results The 13,422 patients had a mean age of 63.5 ± 13 years and included 25.8% females. Higher CHA2DS2-VASc score was associated with a significant increase in 1-year mortality. Patients with a CHA2DS2-VASc score > 5 had the highest 1-year mortality risk that was 6-fold higher compared to patients with a score of 0 to 1 (hazard ratio = 6, 95% CI = 4.1–8.8, p < 0.0001). However, even an intermediate CHA2DS2-VASc score of 2–3 was associated with a significant 2.6-fold increase in 1-year mortality. Patients with a higher CHA2DS2-VASc score were less frequently selected for an invasive strategy with an early coronary angiogram and subsequent angioplasty and were less commonly treated with the guideline-based medications. However, differences in outcomes remained significant following a multivariate analysis suggesting that these variations in therapy can only partially explain the differences in outcomes. Conclusions Higher CHA2DS2-VASc score identifies high-risk patients that may be overlooked by existing scores. Further studies are needed in order to evaluate whether the CHA2DS2-VASc score may be used together with the GRACE score for an improved risk assessment of ACS patients.