Introduction:
Non-Valvular Atrial Fibrillation (AF) patients show high residual cardiovascular risk despite oral anticoagulants. Urinary 11-dehydro-thromboxane B2 (TxB2) is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular events, but its predictive value in anticoagulated AF patients is unknown.
Hypothesis:
Aim of this was to assess whether urinary 11-dehydro-TxB2 is a predictor of cardiovascular events in anticoagulated patients with AF.
Methods:
Prospective single-center cohort study, including 864 consecutive AF patients. Mean time of follow-up was 30.0 months yielding 2062 person-years of observation. Urinary 11-dehydro-TxB2 was measured at baseline. The primary end-point was the composite of myocardial infarction, ischemic stroke, cardiac revascularization, cardiovascular death and deaths from any cause.
Results:
Cardiovascular events occurred in 98 (11.3%), whilst 81 patients died (9.4%), including 55 from cardiovascular and 26 from non-cardiovascular causes. At baseline, urinary 11-dehydro-TxB2 levels were higher in patients who experienced a cardiovascular event (p<0.001). An increased rate of cardiovascular events, cardiovascular death and all-cause death was observed across tertiles of 11-dehydro-TxB2 (p<0.001). On Cox proportional hazards analysis, CHA2DS2-VASc score, second and third tertile of 11-dehydro-TxB2, compared to the first tertile, were significant predictors of vascular and non-vascular events. On a logistic regression analysis, 11-dehydro-TxB2 levels progressively increase with increasing CHA2DS2-VASc scores.
Conclusions:
Urinary 11-dehydro-TxB2 predicts residual risk of cardiovascular events in anticoagulated atrial fibrillation patients. Urinary 11-dehydro-TxB2 progressively increases with increasing CHA2DS2-VASc score suggesting that anticoagulated patients with high CHA2DS2-VASc score may need additional antithrombotic strategies.