ABSTRACT
Objective To determine the value of using B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) and D-dimer in preliminary recognition of cardioembolic stroke patients.Methods A mutilple-center study was conducted in Foshan Hospital of traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and its affiliated hospitals from July 2015 to July 2016.In the emergency departments (EDs),emergency physicians prospectively assessed consecutive adult patients with acute cardioembolic stroke and measured plasma BNP by POCT platform on admission,then followed up.Stroke neurologists evaluated patients' functional outcome at hospital discharge and also made discharge diagnosis and stroke etiologic subtypes according to the TOAST criteria.Results In this study,290 acute ischemic stroke patients met the study criteria [mean age (68.41 ± 12.06) years;53.8％ female].Of the enrolled patients,28.3％ were diagnosed with LAA at discharge,17.9％ with CE,42.8％ with SAO,11.0％ with SOE or SUE.And the mean BNP concentration was significantly higher in the CE group than that in other three subtypes (P ＜ 0.001).After adjustment for multiple clinical predictors like gender,age,coronary artery disease,atrial fibrillation and renal function,BNP and D-dimer were associated with CE [BNP OR:1.044 (95％ CI 1.025,1.064),P ＜ 0.001;D-dimer OR:1.511(95％ CI 1.020,2.238),P =0.039,respectively].Conclusion Through POCT technique in the EDs,cardioembolic stroke patients can be differentiated from other TOAST subtypes.BNP with/without D-dimer has good but different corresponding diagnostic performance in preliminary recognition of cardioembolic stroke patients.