BNP combined with echocardiographic parameters to predict the risk of cardioembolic stroke.
BACKGROUND
Previous studies have found that BNP and some indicators of cardiac structure and function are closely associated with atrial fibrillation, so we aim to investigate the potential role of BNP and echocardiographic parameters to identify the acute ischemic stroke with atrial fibrillation patients who have high risks of cardioembolic stroke based on it.


METHODS
436 AIS patients were divided into an AF group and non-AF group on the basis of the electrocardiogram and Holter results. Then we compared vascular risk factors, laboratory test indicators, and echocardiographic parameters among different groups.


RESULTS
AIS with AF group had significantly higher age, CHD, previous medication, creatinine, d-dimer, fibrinogen, CRP, BNP, LAD, LVDd, LVDs and lower cholesterol, triglyceride, LDL and ejection fraction than the non-AF group (P < 0.05). Increased BNP, LAD, LVDd, LVDs and ejection fraction reduction were independent risk factors to predict cardioembolic stroke. BNP and LAD could be the two most effective indicators of the high risk of cardioembolic stroke. The area under the curve (AUC) of BNP and LAD were 0.791 [95%CI (0.743-0.838), p < 0.001), 0.786 [95%CI (0.739-0.833), p < 0.001]. The combined score we designed improved the prediction effect of single-indicator. The AUC of it was 0.822 with a sensitivity of 69.5% and specificity of 83.9%.There was an apparent positive correlation between BNP and LAD in AIS patients (r = 0.327, P < 0.001).


CONCLUSION
BNP combined with echocardiographic parameters has outstanding value to predict the risk of cardioembolic stroke, especially for BNP and LAD.
['Zhang|Meng|M|', 'Wang|Yuan|Y|', 'Wei|Jin|J|', 'Peng|Qing|Q|', 'Pan|Xudong|X|', 'Ma|Aijun|A|']
D000368:Aged D001281:Atrial Fibrillation D015415:Biomarkers D004452:Echocardiography D000083262:Embolic Stroke D005260:Female D006801:Humans D008297:Male D008875:Middle Aged D020097:Natriuretic Peptide, Brain D012307:Risk Factors
BNP Cardioembolic stroke Atrial fibrillation LAD