Plasma d-Dimer and Incident Ischemic Stroke and Coronary Heart Disease: The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study.

ABSTRACT:

Background and purpose

Epidemiological studies have documented that plasma d-dimer, a fibrin degradation product, is a risk marker for coronary heart disease, but there is limited prospective evidence for stroke. Given that thrombosis is a key mechanism for many strokes, we studied whether d-dimer is a risk marker for ischemic stroke incidence in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study.

Methods

We measured d-dimer in 11 415 ARIC participants free of stroke and coronary heart disease in 1992 to 1995. We followed them for stroke, stroke subtype, and coronary heart disease events through 2012.

Results

Over a median of 18 years of follow-up, 719 participants had incident strokes (628 ischemic and 91 hemorrhagic). d-dimer was associated positively with risk of

SUBMITTER: Folsom AR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4696899 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature