Clinical characteristics and prognosis of patients with left ventricular thrombus in East China

BackgroundLeft ventricular thrombus (LVT) is a serious complication in patients with left ventricular dysfunction. However, there is still a paucity of data on treatments and prognosis of patients with LVT. This study aims to evaluate the clinical characteristics of patients with LVT and to determine the impact of LVT on the incidence of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs) and all-cause mortality. MethodsFrom January 2010 to January 2020, 237 patients diagnosed with LVT at The Second Affiliated Hospital Zhejiang University School of Medicine in East China were retrospectively included. Clinical characteristics, treatments, MACEs, and bleeding events [thrombolysis in myocardial infarction (TIMI) I and II] were collected. MACE is determined as the composite of all-cause mortality, ischemic stroke, acute myocardial infarction (MI), and acute peripheral artery emboli. ResultsThe all-cause mortality rate was 28.3% (89.6% due to cardiovascular death), ischemic stroke 8.4%, MI 3%, peripheral artery emboli 1.7%, and bleeding events (TIMI I and II) 7.6% were found during a median follow-up of 736 days. Total LVT regression occurred in 152 patients (64.1%). Atrial fibrillation [hazard ratio (HR), 3.049; 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.264-7.355; p = 0.013], moderate and severe renal function injuries (HR, 2.097; 95% CI, 1.027-4.281; p = 0.042), and left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) <= 50% (HR, 2.243; 95% CI 1.090-4.615; p = 0.028) were independent risk factors for MACE, whereas the use of beta-blocker (HR, 0.397; 95% CI 0.210-0.753; p = 0.005) was its protective factor. Age (HR, 1.021; 95% CI 1.002-1.040; p = 0.031), previous caronary artery bypass grafting (CABG; HR, 4.634; 95% CI 2.042-10.517; p < 0.001), LVEF <= 50% (HR, 3.714; 95% CI 1.664-8.290; p = 0.001), and large thrombus area (HR, 1.071; 95% CI 1.019-1.126; p = 0.007) were independent risk factors for increasing all-cause mortality, whereas the use of beta-blocker (HR, 0.410; 95% CI 0.237-0.708; p = 0.001) was protective factor. ConclusionThis study showed that atrial fibrillation, moderate and severe renal dysfunction, and LVEF <= 50% were independent risk factors for MACE; age, previous CABG, LVEF <= 50%, and large thrombus area were independent risk factors for all-cause mortality. It was found that the use of beta-blockers could improve the prognosis of patient with LVT for the first time. It is recommended that clinicians could be more active in applying patient with LVT with anticoagulants.

Automated summary

This study aimed to evaluate the clinical characteristics and prognosis of patients with left ventricular thrombus (LVT). The results showed that atrial fibrillation, renal dysfunction, and left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) <= 50% were independent risk factors for major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), while age, previous coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), LVEF <= 50%, and large thrombus area were independent risk factors for all-cause mortality. The use of beta-blockers was found to improve the prognosis of patients with LVT. It is recommended that clinicians should consider using anticoagulants for LVT patients.