Electrocardiographic left atrial abnormalities and risk of incident stroke in hypertensive patients with electrocardiographic left ventricular hypertrophy

Conclusion: Abnormal PTFV1, a marker of left atrial abnormality, was strongly associated with incident stroke in hypertensive patients, independent of in-treatment SBP and other predictors of incident stroke. This association, in the absence of detectable atrial fibrillation, suggests that an underlying atrial cardiopathy may cause left atrial thrombus formation and a subsequent stroke without intervening clinically recognized atrial fibrillation.
Source: Journal of Hypertension - Category: Cardiology Tags: ORIGINAL PAPERS: Heart Source Type: research