Brain Natriuretic Peptide and Particular Left Ventricle Segment Asynergy Associated with Cardioembolic Stroke from Old Myocardial Infarction

Atrial cardiomyopathy markers and new-onset atrial fibrillation risk in patients with acute myocardial infarction

BACKGROUND

New-onset atrial fibrillation (NOAF) after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is common and independently correlated with poor prognosis. The purpose of this study is to explore whether atrial cardiomyopathy (ACM) markers improve NOAF risk assessment and contribute to therapy decision-making to improve prognosis.

METHODS

We retrospectively analyzed 4713 patients with AMI without a documented history of atrial fibrillation (AF). We measured markers of ACM including P-wave terminal force in ECG lead V1 (PTFV1), Left atrial dimension (LAD), and B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP). Patients were stratified into tertiles of PTFV1, LAD, and BNP levels. Associations between markers and NOAF were evaluated using logistic regression analysis.

RESULTS

Overall, 222 (4.71%) patients had NOAF out of 4713 patients. The prevalence of NOAF increased gradually with PTFV1, LAD, and BNP tertiles. On multivariable regression analysis with potential confounders, elevated PTFV1, LAD, and BNP markers were significantly associated with an increased risk of NOAF. The addition of PTFV1, LAD, and BNP to the AF risk factors recommended by the 2020 ESC Guidelines significantly improved risk discrimination for NOAF.

CONCLUSION

Atrial cardiomyopathy markers including PTFV1, LAD, and BNP were strongly associated with NOAF after AMI. The prediction performance of the clinical model for NOAF was increased by the addition of these markers.

Precision medicine in secondary prevention of ischemic stroke: how may blood-based biomarkers help in clinical routine? An expert opinion

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

One in eight patients unfortunately suffers a new stroke within 5 years of their first stroke, even today. Research in precision medicine could lead to a more individualized treatment allocation, possibly achieving lower recurrence rates of ischemic stroke. In this narrative review, we aim to discuss potential clinical implementation of several promising candidate blood biomarkers.

RECENT FINDINGS

We discuss specifically some promising blood-based biomarkers, which may improve the identification of underlying causes as well as risk stratification of patients according to their specific cerebrovascular risk factor pattern.

SUMMARY

Multimodal profiling of ischemic stroke patients by means of blood biomarkers, in addition to established clinical and neuroradiological data, may allow in the future a refinement of decision algorithms for treatment allocation in secondary ischemic stroke prevention.

Update on Biomarkers Associated to Cardioembolic Stroke: A Narrative Review

Background: In the last years, several studies were conducted that evaluated biomarkers that could be helpful for cardioembolic stroke diagnosis, prognosis, and the determination of risk of stroke recurrence. Methods: We performed a narrative review of the main studies that evaluated biomarkers related to specific cardioembolic causes: atrial fibrillation, patent foramen ovale, atrial cardiomyopathy, and left ventricular wall motion abnormalities. Results: BNP and NT-proBNP are, among all biomarkers of cardioembolic stroke, the ones that have the highest amount of evidence for their use. NT-proBNP is currently used for the selection of patients that will be included in clinical trials that aim to evaluate the use of anticoagulation in patients suspected of having a cardioembolic stroke and for the selection of patients to undergo cardiac monitoring. NT-proBNP has also been incorporated in tools used to predict the risk of stroke recurrence (ABC-stroke score). Conclusions: NT-proBNP and BNP continue to be the biomarkers most widely studied in the context of cardioembolic stroke. The possibility of using other biomarkers in clinical practice is still distant, mainly because of the low methodological quality of the studies in which they were evaluated. Both internal and external validation studies are rarely performed for most biomarkers.

Prognostic Significance of B-Type Natriuretic Peptide in Patients With Left Ventricular Thrombus

Background and Aims: There is sparse information on the prognostic value of B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) for the outcomes in patients with left ventricular thrombus (LVT).

Methods: Patients diagnosed with LVT by transthoracic echocardiography between November 2009 to July 2020 at our institution were included. The endpoints were all-cause mortality and systemic embolism.

Results: Ninety-two subjects were finally included in the study. The mean age of the cohort was 56.73 ± 14.12, and 80.4% of the patients were male. The median BNP (1st quartile−3rd quartile) was 437.5 (112.74–1317.5). The total all-cause mortality rate was 30.44% (28/92), and the 1-year, 2-year, and 3-year cumulative survival rates were 85.4, 75.5, and 66.5%, respectively. Systemic embolism was identified in 10 subjects. COX multivariate analysis showed that Log BNP (HR, 4.16; 95%CI, 1.81–9.56; P = 0.001) and BMI (HR, 0.86; 95%CI, 0.73–0.99; P = 0.048) were significantly associated with all-cause mortality. In addition, patients with BNP levels in the upper median (≥ 437.5 pg/ml) had significantly higher all-cause mortality rate compared to those with lower median BNP (<437.5 pg/ml; P = 0.004). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for BNP and all-cause mortality was 0.71. In the linear trend test, BNP quartiles were significantly related to all-cause mortality in all models, and the P-values for trend in models 1, 2, and 3 were 0.005, 0.006, and 0.048, respectively.

Conclusion: BNP level is a prognostic factor for all-cause mortality in LVT patients, and elevated BNP is indicative of a higher risk of LVT.

Blood-Based Biomarkers Are Associated with Different Ischemic Stroke Mechanisms and Enable Rapid Classification between Cardioembolic and Atherosclerosis Etiologies

Stroke is a top leading cause of death, which occurs due to interference in the blood flow of the brain. Ischemic stroke (blockage) accounts for most cases (87%) and is further subtyped into cardioembolic, atherosclerosis, lacunar, other causes, and cryptogenic strokes. The main value of subtyping ischemic stroke patients is for a better therapeutic decision-making process. The current classification methods are complex and time-consuming (hours to days). Specific blood-based biomarker measurements have promising potential to improve ischemic stroke mechanism classification. Over the past decades, the hypothesis that different blood-based biomarkers are associated with different ischemic stroke mechanisms is increasingly investigated. This review presents the recent studies that investigated blood-based biomarker characteristics differentiation between ischemic stroke mechanisms. Different blood-based biomarkers are specifically discussed (b-type natriuretic peptide, d-dimer, c-reactive protein, tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-6, interleukin-1β, neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio, total cholesterol, triglycerides, low-density lipoprotein, high-density lipoprotein and apolipoprotein A), as well as the different cut-off values that may be useful in specific classifications for cardioembolic and atherosclerosis etiologies. Lastly, the structure of a point-of-care biosensor device is presented, as a measuring tool on-site. The information presented in this review will hopefully contribute to the major efforts to improve the care for stroke patients.

B-Type Natriuretic Peptide as a Significant Brain Biomarker for Stroke Triaging Using a Bedside Point-of-Care Monitoring Biosensor

Stroke is a widespread condition that causes 7 million deaths globally. Survivors suffer from a range of disabilities that affect their everyday life. It is a complex condition and there is a need to monitor the different signals that are associated with it. Stroke patients need to be rapidly diagnosed in the emergency department in order to allow the admission of the time-limited treatment of tissue plasminogen activator (tPA). Stroke diagnostics show the use of sophisticated technologies; however, they still contain limitations. The hidden information and technological advancements behind the utilization of biomarkers for stroke triaging are significant. Stroke biomarkers can revolutionize the way stroke patients are diagnosed, monitored, and how they recover. Different biomarkers indicate different cascades and exhibit unique expression patterns which are connected to certain pathologies in the human body. Over the past decades, B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) and its derivative N-terminal fragment (NT-proBNP) have been increasingly investigated and highlighted as significant cardiovascular biomarkers. This work reviews the recent studies that have reported on the usefulness of BNP and NT-proBNP for stroke triaging. Their classification association is also presented, with increased mortality in stroke, correlation with cardioembolic stroke, and an indication of a second stroke recurrence. Moreover, recent scientific efforts conducted for the technological advancement of a bedside point-of-care (POC) device for BNP and NT-proBNP measurements are discussed. The conclusions presented in this review may hopefully assist in the major efforts that are currently being conducted in order to improve the care of stroke patients.

Influence of interleukin-1β gene polymorphism on the risk of myocardial infarction complicated with ischemic stroke

This study investigated the correlation between interleukin (IL)-1β-511C/T gene polymorphism and myocardial infarction (MI) complicated with ischemic stroke (IS). A total of 251 MI patients complicated with IS (observation group) and 200 healthy people (control group) were selected for the case-control study. IL-1β-511C/T gene polymorphism was detected via polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). The genotype distribution and allele frequency were compared between the two groups, and the correlation between gene polymorphism and MI complicated with IS, was analyzed after traditional risk factors were adjusted by using logistic regression method. The frequencies of CT and TT genotypes in the observation group were higher than those in the control group (P<0.05). The frequency of T allele in the observation group was significantly higher than that in the control group (P<0.05), but the frequency of C allele was obviously lower than that in the control group (P<0.05). According to results of logistic regression analysis, arrhythmia and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) were associated with MI complicated with IS. In patients with arrhythmia, the risk of disease in carriers with IL-1β-511T gene was 1.7–1.8 times that in non-carriers [odds ratio (OR) = 1.742 and 1.839, P<0.05]. In patients with abnormal HDL-C, the risk of disease in carriers with IL-1β-511T gene was 2.0–2.2 times that in non-carriers (OR = 2.011 and 2.249, P<0.05). Besides, the risk of MI complicated with IS in carriers with CC genotype had no significant difference in patients with arrhythmia and abnormal HDL-C (P>0.05). IL-1β-511C/T gene polymorphism may be related to the risk of MI complicated with IS.