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Estimating Bilateral Atrial Function by Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance Feature Tracking in Patients with Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation
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Relation of left atrial blood stasis to clinical risk factors in atrial fibrillation

Kazumasa Ohara1, Tadakazu Hirai, Nobuyuki Fukuda

  • 1The Second Department of Internal Medicine University of Toyama, Toyama, Sugitani, Toyama, Japan.

International Journal of Cardiology
|January 15, 2008
PubMed

Insights

Clinical risk factors for thromboembolism correlate with blood stasis and aortic atherosclerosis in nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) patients. Chronic AF patients showed more severe blood stasis than paroxysmal AF patients.

Area of Science:

  • Cardiology
  • Vascular Medicine
  • Thromboembolism Research

Background:

  • Investigating the correlation between thromboembolic risk factors and blood stasis in the left atrium (LA) and aortic atherosclerosis.
  • Focus on patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF).

Purpose of the Study:

  • To determine if accumulating clinical risk factors for thromboembolism correlate with the severity of LA blood stasis and aortic atherosclerosis in NVAF patients.
  • To compare blood stasis severity between chronic and paroxysmal AF patients.

Main Methods:

  • Assessed thromboembolic risk using the CHADS(2) score in 515 NVAF patients.
  • Evaluated LA spontaneous echocardiographic contrast (LASEC), LA appendage (LAA) peak flow velocity, and aortic atherosclerosis via transesophageal echocardiography.

Main Results:

  • Increased LASEC and decreased LAA flow velocity correlated significantly with higher CHADS(2) scores (p<0.001).
  • Aortic atherosclerosis severity also increased with higher CHADS(2) scores (p<0.001).
  • Chronic AF patients exhibited higher LASEC and lower LAA flow velocity than paroxysmal AF patients at similar risk levels (p<0.001).

Conclusions:

  • Blood stasis in the LA and aortic atherosclerosis severity are linked to an accumulation of clinical thromboembolism risk factors in NVAF.
  • Blood stasis is more severe in chronic AF patients compared to paroxysmal AF patients, even at comparable risk levels.
Abstract

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