Abstract
Left atrial diameter and left ventricular dysfunction are predictors of thromboembolism in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF). To screen high-risk patients for the primary prevention of thromboembolism, we measured various hemostatic molecular markers [thrombin-antithrombin III complex (TAT), fibrinopeptide A (FPA), plasmin-α2plasmin-inhibitor complex, D-dimer, βthromboglobulin (β-TG) and platelet factor 4 (PF4)] and examined the correlations between the markers and cardiac output, ejection fraction, left atrial diameter (LAD) by transthoracic echocardiography, and systolic and diastolic blood pressure in NVAF patients. The hemostatic molecular markers were also investigated in 46 age-matched controls without atherosclerotic vascular diseases. The NVAF group had significantly higher concentrations of TAT, FPA, β-TG and PF4 than the control group. TAT was significantly correlated to LAD. These findings suggest that TAT may be a useful indicator for predicting the occurrence of embolization in NVAF.
