Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jan 24, 2026

Transesophageal Atrial Burst Pacing for Atrial Fibrillation Induction in Rats
05:12

Transesophageal Atrial Burst Pacing for Atrial Fibrillation Induction in Rats

Published on: February 14, 2022

3.8K

Atrial fibrillation, not atrial cardiopathy, is associated with stroke: A single center retrospective study

Muhammad Affan1, Abhimanyu Mahajan2, Sumul Modi3

  • 1Department of Neurology, Henry Ford Hospital, USA.

Journal of the Neurological Sciences
|May 24, 2019
PubMed

Insights

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is linked to stroke, while left atrial enlargement (LAE) is not. This study found AF, not LAE, is the primary atrial factor associated with stroke risk.

Area of Science:

  • Cardiology
  • Neurology
  • Medical Imaging

Background:

  • Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a known risk factor for thromboembolism.
  • Atrial cardiopathy, characterized by left atrial enlargement (LAE), is proposed as a unifying stroke risk factor.
  • The independent contributions of LAE and AF to stroke risk require clarification.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To determine the relative importance of LAE and AF as risk factors for stroke.
  • To investigate the association between the severity of LAE and the prevalence of AF.
  • To clarify the relationship between LAE, AF, and the occurrence of prior stroke.

Main Methods:

  • Retrospective analysis of 8679 patients undergoing echocardiography.
  • Categorization of patients based on LAE severity: none, mild, moderate, and severe.
  • Ascertainment of prior stroke and AF diagnoses from electronic medical records.

Main Results:

  • Increased LAE severity correlated with a higher odds of AF (adjusted ORs 1.81-4.38, P < .001).
  • AF was confirmed as a significant risk factor for prior stroke (aOR 1.34, P < .001).
  • No significant association was found between LAE and stroke, irrespective of LAE severity or AF presence (aOR 0.98, P = .74).

Conclusions:

  • Structural LAE is significantly associated with AF, present in nearly half the study population.
  • AF, not LAE, is confirmed as a significant risk factor for stroke.
  • AF, rather than LAE, appears to be the primary atrial factor contributing to stroke risk.
Abstract

Keywords:
Atrial cardiopathyAtrial fibrillationEchocardiographyLeft atrial enlargementStroke

More Related Videos

Estimating Bilateral Atrial Function by Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance Feature Tracking in Patients with Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation08:10

Estimating Bilateral Atrial Function by Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance Feature Tracking in Patients with Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation

Published on: July 20, 2022

2.1K
Robotic Ablation of Atrial Fibrillation11:21

Robotic Ablation of Atrial Fibrillation

Published on: May 29, 2015

20.1K

Related Concept Videos

ECG Interpretation of Arrhythmias II: Atrial, Junctional and Ventricular Arrhythmias01:25

ECG Interpretation of Arrhythmias II: Atrial, Junctional and Ventricular Arrhythmias

Arrhythmia is a condition characterized by an irregular heart rhythm, with ECG changes that differ based on its origin and nature. The types of arrhythmias discussed below include atrial, junctional, and ventricular arrhythmias.Atrial ArrhythmiasPremature Atrial Complexes (PACs): PACs are early atrial beats caused by stress, caffeine, alcohol, electrolyte imbalances, hypoxia, hyperthyroidism, or certain medications (e.g., bronchodilators and decongestants). The ECG shows early P waves with an...
500
Amyloid Fibrils03:03

Amyloid Fibrils

Amyloid fibrils are aggregates of misfolded proteins.  Under most circumstances, misfolded proteins are either refolded by chaperone proteins or degraded by the proteasome. However, in the case of a mutation or a disease, these proteins can accumulate to form large clusters and often further assemble to form elongated fibers, called fibrils. 
Amyloid deposits were observed as early as 1639 in the liver and the spleen.   In 1854, Rudolph Virchow performed iodine staining,...
11.7K
Amyloid Fibrils03:03

Amyloid Fibrils

6.4K
Lattice Centering and Coordination Number02:33

Lattice Centering and Coordination Number

The structure of a crystalline solid, whether a metal or not, is best described by considering its simplest repeating unit, which is referred to as its unit cell. The unit cell consists of lattice points that represent the locations of atoms or ions. The entire structure then consists of this unit cell repeating in three dimensions. The three different types of unit cells present in the cubic lattice are illustrated in Figure 1.
Types of Unit Cells
Imagine taking a large number of identical...
11.4K
Fibril-associated Collagen01:11

Fibril-associated Collagen

Fibril-associated collagens are a type of collagens present in the extracellular matrix with interrupted triple helices or FACIT (Fibril-associated collagens interrupted triple-helices). FACIT help connect and attach the collagen fibrils with each other as well as with other proteins of the extracellular matrix.
For example, the type II collagen fibrils in cartilage have covalently bound type IX fibril-associated collagens at regular intervals. Other types of fibril-associated collagens are...
3.3K
Center of Gravity00:58

Center of Gravity

The center of gravity (COG) of an object is the point where the object's total weight is considered to be concentrated. Knowing the location of the center of gravity is useful when predicting the behavior of a moving object or designing static structures. In a uniform gravitational field, the center of gravity is similar to the center of mass (COM); yet, these two points can be positioned differently. For example, the Moon's center of mass lies very close to its geometric center, but...
6.6K