The association of beta-fibrinogen 455 G/A gene polymorphism with left atrial thrombus and severe spontaneous echo contrast in atrial fibrillation.
OBJECTIVE
The role of coagulation parameters left atrial thrombus formation in atrial fibrillation has not been investigated before. We aimed to investigate the association between the beta-fibrinogen gene polymorphism or glycoprotein IIIa gene polymorphism and presence of left atrial (LA) thrombus or spontaneous echo contrast (SEC) in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF).


METHODS
Forty-seven patients with AF, in whom transesophageal echocardiography was performed, were included to this cross-sectional observational study. Patients were divided in two groups; those with LA thrombus (n=24) were assigned to group 1 and those without thrombus in group 2 (n=23). DNA analysis was conducted to determine gene polymorphism in all patients. Mann-Whitney U test or Chi-square tests were used for statistical analysis.


RESULTS
There were no significant differences between groups regarding to demographic and clinical characteristics. The frequency of beta-fibrinogen 455 G/A polymorphism was higher (37.5%) in group 1 as compared to group 2 (15.1%) but it did not reach statistical difference (p=0.23). When we added patients with severe SEC in the study group (patients with severe SEC and/or thrombus n=27) the difference (44.40%-10%) reached the statistical difference (p=0.01). Glycoprotein IIIa Pl A1/A2 polymorphism was not different between groups with (p=0.82) or without SEC (p=0.73).


CONCLUSIONS
In patients with atrial fibrillation, beta-fibrinogen 455 G/A gene polymorphism is associated with the presence of left atrial thrombus and severe SEC. Beta-fibrinogen 455 G/A gene polymorphism may be a promising marker for the prediction of thromboembolism risk in patients with atrial fibrillation.
Department of Cardiology, Faculty of Medicine, Dokuz Eylül University, Izmir, Turkey.
Volkan
V
Bozdemir
Onder
O
Kirimli
Bahri
B
Akdeniz
Ayfer
A
Ulgenalp
Abdurrahman
A
Aslan
Veli
V
Kala
Erdem
E
Ozel
Omer
O
Senarslan
Ozer
O
Badak
Nezihi
N
Bariş
Sema
S
Güneri
D000225:Adenine; D000368:Aged; D001281:Atrial Fibrillation / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000235:genetics*; D003328:Coronary Thrombosis / Q000235:genetics*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D048909:Diabetes Complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D017548:Echocardiography, Transesophageal; D005260:Female; D005340:Fibrinogen / Q000235:genetics*; D006147:Guanine; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008946:Mitral Valve Stenosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D013923:Thromboembolism / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000235:genetics
C115499:BBeta fibrinogen; D006147:Guanine; D005340:Fibrinogen; D000225:Adenine