Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2014;23(3):234-8.
doi: 10.1159/000361028. Epub 2014 Apr 16.

The CHA2DS2-VASc score as a predictor of left atrial thrombus in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation

Omer Uz  1 , Murat Atalay, Mehmet Doğan, Zafer Isilak, Murat Yalcin, Mehmet Uzun, Ejder Kardesoglu, Bekir Sitki Cebeci
Affiliations

The CHA2DS2-VASc score as a predictor of left atrial thrombus in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation

Omer Uz et al. Med Princ Pract. 2014.

Abstract

Objective: To investigate whether or not the CHA2DS2-VASc score predicts left atrial (LA) thrombus detected on pre-cardioversion transoesophageal echocardiography (TEE).

Materials and methods: The medical records of patients who had undergone TEE were reviewed to assess the presence of LA thrombus prior to direct-current cardioversion for atrial fibrillation (AF). The CHA2DS2-VASc score was calculated for each patient. Clinical TEE reports were reviewed for the presence of LA thrombus. Patients with a valve prosthesis or rheumatic mitral valve disease were excluded from this study.

Results: A total of 309 patients were identified. The mean age was 70.1 ± 9.8 years and 151 (49%) patients were males and 158 (51%) were females. LA thrombus was seen in 32 (10.3%) of the 309 patients. Fifty (16.2%) patients had a low CHA2DS2-VASc score (0-1), 230 (74.4%) had an intermediate score (2-4) and 29 (9.4%) had a high score (5-9). The incidence of LA thrombus in the low, intermediate and high CHA2DS2-VASc score groups was 0, 4.4 and 68.7%, respectively. The LA thrombus risk increased with increasing CHA2DS2-VASc scores. On multivariate logistic analysis, the CHA2DS2-VASc score (OR 3.26, 95% CI 2.3-4.65; p = 0.001) and age (OR 0.93, 95% CI 0.88-0.98; p = 0.004) were independent risk factors for LA thrombus in patients with non-valvular AF.

Conclusion: A high CHA2DS2-VASc score was independently associated with the presence of LA thrombus in patients with non-valvular AF.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Prevalence of LA thrombus by CHA2DS2-VASc score.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Demir K, Can İ, Koc F, et al. Atorvastatin given prior to electrical cardioversion does not affect the recurrence of atrial fibrillation in patients with persistent atrial fibrillation who are on antiarrhythmic therapy. Med Princ Pract. 2011;20:464–469. - PubMed
    1. Fang MC, Go AS, Chang Y, et al. Comparison of risk stratification schemes to predict thromboembolism in people with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2008;51:810–815. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Gage BF, Waterman AD, Shannon W, et al. Validation of clinical classification schemes for predicting stroke: results from the National Registry of Atrial Fibrillation. JAMA. 2001;285:2864–2870. - PubMed
    1. Lip GY, Nieuwlaat R, Pisters R, et al. Refining clinical risk stratification for predicting stroke and thromboembolism in atrial fibrillation using a novel risk factor-based approach: the Euro Heart Survey on Atrial Fibrillation. Chest. 2010;137:263–272. - PubMed
    1. Parikh MG, Aziz Z, Krishnan K, et al. Usefulness of transesophageal echocardiography to confirm clinical utility of CHA2DS2-VASc and CHADS2 scores in atrial flutter. Am J Cardiol. 2012;109:550–555. - PubMed