Abstract #2468
3D Blood flow Characteristic in the Left and Right Atrium in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation
Maria Carr 1 , Yuqing Liu 2 , Jason Ng 3 , James C Carr 1 , Daniel Lee 3 , Jeffrey Goldberger 3 , and Michael Markl 1,2
1
Radiology, Northwestern University, Chicago,
Illinois, United States,
2
Department
of Biomedical Engineering, Northwestern University,
Evanston, Illinois, United States,
3
Division
of Cardiology, Northwestern University, Chicago,
Illinois, United States
Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a common cardiac arrhythmia
associated with increased morbidity and mortality.1
Patients with AF are at increased risk of systemic
embolism (SE) and stroke, which can cause death,
disability, and impaired quality of life.1 It is known
that AF is associated with an increased risk of thrombus
formation within the left atrial (LA) cavity which is a
major contributing factor to embolic stroke in this
population. Previous MRI and Doppler echocardiography
studies have provided evidence that the increased risk
of thrombus formation in the left atrium of AF patients
may be related to flow abnormalities and specifically
decreased blood flow velocity and thus increased stasis
which is thought to promote blood clotting. In this
context, previous echocardiography studies found that
peak left atrial appendage velocities < 0.2m/s
constitute a risk factor for thrombus formation and for
stroke2. Moreover, a recent 4D flow MRI study has shown
that left atrial 3D hemodynamics was significantly
different in patients with AF compared to healthy
controls3. In addition, prior reports have demonstrated
that rates of pulmonary embolism and right atrial (RA)
thrombus formation in AF are an order of magnitude less
common than systemic embolism (i.e. LA thrombus
formation).
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