 Atrial fibrillation AF, the most common cardiac arrhythmia with a global burden of 33.5 million affected patients in 2010, is responsible for about 20 of ischemic stroke, a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Anticoagulants are very effective in reducing the risk of stroke in AF but on average 10-15 of treated patients still experience a stroke over a 10-year period and in selected elderly populations the risk is even higher. We hypothesize that thrombosis mediated by inflammation might be responsible for the residual risk of stroke, despite anticoagulant therapy and that targeting inflammation has the potential to reduce thrombosis and the risk of stroke in anticoagulated patients with AF. 