Fig. 1.
Proposed framework for evaluating patients with high risk of perioperative stroke. *Independent risk factors have been elucidated across large-scale, epidemiologic studies as described in the text and outlined in table 2. †Longitudinal epidemiologic analysis suggests that risk of new perioperative stroke levels off by approximately 9 months after previous stroke. ‡The Canadian Cardiovascular Society, the American College of Surgeons, and the American College of Cardiology have all published recent anticoagulation guideline updates (see text for references). Likewise, the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, the European Stroke Association, and Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada have published recurrent guidelines for the early management of patients with acute ischemic stroke (see text for references).