Coexistence of prothrombic risk factors and its relation to left ventricular thrombus in acute myocardial infarction

Objective-Within the last few years a number of thrombophilic mutations have been identified. Pre-symptomatic testing for these established genetic risk factors identifies individuals predisposed to a disease and often allows to select suitable prophylactic interventions in time. We investigated wether or not the prothrombin G20210A allele, the factor V Leiden G1691A, and MTHFR C677T allele are risk factors for left ventricular thrombus (LV) in patients with myocardial infarction (AMI) or not. Methods and results-We analysed clinical, echocardiographic and biochemical data in 183 consecutive patients (aged 58 +/- 12 years; 34 women) with a first anterior acute myocardial infarction. Two-dimensional echocardiographic examination was performed on days 1, 3, 7, 15, and 30. LV thrombi were detected in 42 (23%) of the 183 patients with acute myocardial infarction. We have used multiplex assays based on PCR and DNA hybridization in microtitre plates for the simultaneous analysis of three mutations (FV Leiden G1691A, prothrombin G20210A, and MTHFR C677T). No significant differences in allele frequencies of FV Leiden G1691A (9.5% vs. 8.5%, p = 0.75), prothrombin G20210A (9.5% vs 7.1%, p = 0.74) and MTHFR C677T (47.6% vs. 50.3%, p = 0.74) were found in patients with LV thrombus when compared with those without LV thrombus. No significant differences in haemostatic factor levels were found in patients with LV thrombus when compared with those without LV thrombus. Conclusion-FV Leiden, prothrombin 20210 variant, and MTHFR mutation are no risk factors for left ventricular thrombus in patients with myocardial infarction. The presence of multiple mutations did not influence the development and outcome of LV thrombus in patients with myocardial infarction.