Approximately 20-30 % of strokes are cardioembolic, and atrial fibril lation (AF) is the main cardiogenic cause. AF is not an uncommon issue in the population, and its prevalence increases with age and is related to a more severe stroke. The prevention of stroke in patients with AF should be performed with oral anticoagulation, and warfarin is the most frequently used medication; however, this medication is difficult to be managed due to multiple drug interactions and dietary interactions, which demands a periodical laboratory monitoring. Half of the patients who started on this treatment interrupt it in months, and half of the treated patients do not reach the therapeutic target. In addition, there is a risk of bleeding, including cerebral hemorrhage, and the benefit of the medication should be individualized to each patient. In this scenario the new oral anticoagulants (such as dabigatran, rivaroxaban, apixaban, edoxaban) have emerged as an option to warfarin, which present with similar or slightly better efficacy than warfarin and risk of hemorrhage slightly lower.