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DOI: 10.1160/TH03-04-0240
Thrombophilic mutations in high-risk atrial fibrillation patients: high prevalence of prothrombin gene G20210A polymorphism and lack of correlation with thromboembolism
Financial support: This work was supported in part by Grants from the Ministero dell’Istruzione, dell’Università e della Ricerca.Publication History
Received
22 April 2003
Accepted after resubmission
18 July 2003
Publication Date:
05 December 2017 (online)
![](https://www.thieme-connect.de/media/10.1055-s-00035024/200306/lookinside/thumbnails/10-1160-th03-04-0240-1.jpg)
Summary
Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a common arrhythmia that results in a high risk of cerebral and peripheral embolism. Factor V Leiden and factor II G20210A variant are two leading conditions for venous thrombosis. The aim of our study was to find out whether these two common prothrombotic mutations play a role in the occurrence of embolic events in AF patients. We investigated 336 non-valvular AF patients and 336 healthy control subjects. Factor II G20210A variant was found in 24/336 patients (7.14%) and in 11/336 of control subjects (3.3%). At a multivariate analysis, factor II G20210A variant was independently associated to AF (OR 2.4 95% CI 1.1-5.2; p<0.05). No significant difference was observed in the prevalence of factor V Leiden in the two groups investigated [6/304 (2.0%) in patients vs 13/336 (3.9%) in controls (p=0.24)]. AF patients were separately analyzed in relation to the occurrence or absence of a cerebral or peripheral embolic event (200 with and 136 without embolic event). The prevalence of the two mutations among AF patients with and without an embolic event was similar [factor II G20210A polymorphism (7% and 7.3% respectively) and factor V Leiden (1.2% and 2.9%, respectively)]. No differences were found in relation to the type of embolic event. Our results suggest a possible relationship between the presence of prothrombin gene variant and AF per se.
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