Summary

This article gives an overview of warfarin in stroke prevention compared with the new oral anticoagulants (NOACs). While warfarin has been widely used in stroke prevention, it has less desirable attributes such as difficulties in achieving the correct therapeutic dose, interpatient variability, medication compliance, food and drug interactions, and variability amongst generic formulations. Also discussed are the benefits of warfarin versus NOACs in secondary prevention, and a brief summary of patient considerations with NOACs based on clinical trial data.