PLoS ONE (Jan 2015)
Hypercoagulability Is a Stronger Risk Factor for Ischaemic Stroke than for Myocardial Infarction: A Systematic Review.
Abstract
Hypercoagulability increases the risk of arterial thrombosis; however, this effect may differ between various manifestations of arterial disease.In this study, we compared the effect of coagulation factors as measures of hypercoagulability on the risk of ischaemic stroke (IS) and myocardial infarction (MI) by performing a systematic review of the literature. The effect of a risk factor on IS (relative risk for IS, RRIS) was compared with the effect on MI (RRMI) by calculating their ratio (RRR = RRIS/RRMI). A relevant differential effect was considered when RRR was >1+ its own standard error (SE) or 1+1SE) was found in 49/343 (14%) markers. Of these, 18/49 (37%) had an RRR greater than 1+2SE. On the opposite side, a larger effect on MI risk (RRR<1-1SE) was found in only 17/343 (5%) markers.These results suggest that hypercoagulability has a more pronounced effect on the risk of IS than that of MI.