Iconography : Impact of Increased Orifice Size and Decreased Flow Velocity of Left Atrial Appendage on Stroke in Nonvalvular Atrial Fibrillation

0002-9149/14/$ http://dx.doi.org/1 atrial fibrillation (AF) with previous stroke remain incompletely elucidated. This study investigated whether a larger LAA orifice is related to decreased LAA flow velocity and stroke in nonvalvular AF. The dimension, morphology, and flow velocity of LAA were compared in patients with nonvalvular AF with (stroke group, n [ 67, mean age 66 – 9 years) and without ischemic stroke (no-stroke group, n [ 151, mean age 56 – 10 years). Compared with no-stroke group, the stroke group had larger LA dimension (4.7 – 0.8 vs 4.2 – 0.6 cm, p 3.5 cm) had greater incidence of stroke than those with LAA orifice of £3.5 cm (75% vs 23%, p <0.001). In conclusion, LAA orifice enlargement was related to stroke risk in patients with nonvalvular AF even after adjustment for other risk factors, and it could be the cause of decreased flow velocity in LAA. 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. (Am J Cardiol 2014;113:963e969)