Laboratory investigations
At the date of procedure, before LAAO, baseline blood samples were collected. Control blood samples were collected at the discharge and 1 month follow-up.
Blood samples were collected into vacutainer tubes (tubes anticoagulated with K3-EDTA for complete blood count, tubes containing 0.109M sodium citrate and CTAD (buffered citrate, theophylline, adenosine, and dipyridamole) for hemostasis and fibrinolysis tests. In all cases before the procedure anti-Xa activity (IU/mL) was measured from peripheral blood.
International Normalized Ratio (INR), activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), high sensitivity C-reactive protein (CRP), glycated hemoglobin (HBA1C), morphology including platelets count, comprehensive lipid profile including total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, and triglyceride levels were measured from antecubital vein blood samples of all patients upon hospital admission by routine methods. Tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) antigen, plasminogen activator inhibitor type 1 (PAI-1) antigen, thrombin activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor (TAFI) antigen, and plasminogen activity levels were determined by ELISA (Hyphen BioMed, Neuville-Sur-Oise, France).