The clinical significance of the CHADS2 score remains unclear in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) without atrial fibrillation (AF). Therefore, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the association between the CHADS2 score and the long-term risk of ischemic stroke and its severity in patients with CAD with and without AF. Using the CREDO (Coronary Revascularization Demonstrating Outcome study)-Kyoto Registry Cohort-3, the present study population consisted of 11,516 patients with CAD who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention without oral anticoagulants at discharge. We divided the patients into 2 groups according to the presence (n = 721) or absence (n = 10,795) of AF. As the CHADS2 score increased from 0 or 1 to 6, the cumulative 5-year incidence of ischemic stroke incrementally increased from 2.1% to 17.1% in patients without AF and from 4.2% to 40.7% in patients with AF. The cumulative 5-year incidence of ischemic stroke in patients without AF and a CHADS2 score of 2 were numerically comparable to that in patients with AF and a CHADS2 score of 1 (3.4% and 3.7%). In the 423 patients who developed ischemic stroke, the modified Rankin Scale score was not significantly different between patients with and without AF (p for trend = 0.12). In patients with and without AF, the increase in the CHADS2 score was significantly associated with the greater prevalence of higher modified Rankin Scale scores (p for trend = 0.03 and <0.001, respectively). An increasing CHADS2 score was associated with an incrementally increased risk for ischemic stroke and greater severity of ischemic stroke in patients with and without AF.
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