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Risk of thromboembolic events in atrial fibrillation with chronic kidney disease. BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Chronic kidney disease may increase the risk for ischemic stroke or systemic embolism in patients with nonvalular atrial fibrillation (AF). We conducted a meta-analysis to summarize all published studies to investigate the link between chronic kidney disease and risk of thromboembolic events in AF. METHODS: We performed a literature search using MEDLINE (source PubMed, 1966 to July, 2014) and EMBASE (1980 to July 2014) with no restrictions. Pooled effect estimates were obtained by using random-effects meta-analysis. RESULTS: Eighteen studies involving 538 479 patients and 41 719 incident thromboembolic events were identified. From the pooled analysis, AF patients with estimated glomerular filtration rate <60 mL/min compared with those with estimated glomerular filtration rate ≥60 mL/min experienced a significantly increased risk for developing thromboembolic events (relative risk, 1.62 [95% confidence interval, 1.40-1.87; P<0.001]). The annual rate of thromboembolic events increased by 0.41% (95% confidence interval, 0.17%-0.65%) for a 10 mL/min decrease in renal function. Addition of renal impairment to CHADS2 slightly improved the stroke risk stratification. CONCLUSIONS: Impaired renal function is an independent predictor of stroke or systemic embolism in patients with nonvalvular AF. Consideration of renal function may improve stroke risk stratification in patients with AF.