Likely, after 1.9 years of follow-up in ARISTOTLE trial, an annual rate of stroke or systemic embolic events was 2.03% in AF patients with the highest quartile of GDF-15 (> 2052 ng/L) compared to 0.90% in those with the lowest quartile of GDF-15 (≤ 977 ng/L) [28]. Here, GDF15 is linked to Stroke.