title: The impact of acute atrial fibrillation on the prothrombotic state in patients with essential hypertension.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate whether acute atrial fibrillation (AF) creates a prothrombotic state in hypertensive patients, and to assess the evolution in research indices after cardioversion.
  
  
  METHODS
  Plasma levels of von Willebrand factor (vWf), soluble P-selectin and fibrin D-dimers were measured in hypertensive patients with acute AF pre-cardioversion and at 1, 7, 14, and 30days post-cardioversion. The results were compared with hypertensive controls and healthy controls.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Pre-cardioversion plasma vWf levels in acute AF patients were similar to those of controls; however, post-cardioversion, the vWf levels increased significantly and only returned to baseline levels 14days later. Compared with controls, acute AF patients had higher levels of fibrin D-dimers, which lasted at least 14days after cardioversion.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study demonstrated that hypertensive patients with acute AF have an abnormal prothrombotic state, which persists for up to 14days after cardioversion.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Fuzhou General Hospital, Fuzhou, PR China.
authors.forename: Jianping
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.forename: Yonggang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.forename: Xiaobo
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Gai
authors.forename: Hueimin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Xiangyue
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Xiaopeng
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Lan
authors.forename: Weixing
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.forename: Mingfang
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Huang
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000368:Aged; D001281:Atrial Fibrillation / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004554:Electric Countershock; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications*; D008297:Male; D013927:Thrombosis / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications*