Researchers at the Texas Advanced Computing Center in Austin revealed a new predictive measure to identify patients most at risk for blood clots, according to a new study published in the International Journal of Cardiology.
For the study, researchers conducted multiple computational simulations with the Stampede supercomputer to examine the flow of blood through the heart. Researchers validated the simulations' findings by comparing them to data from 75 patients who both did and did not experience thrombosis after a heart attack.
Researchers found the measure of blood dispersed from the mitral jet into the heart's left ventricle was an accurate predicator of future clotting. If the jet does not penetrate deeply enough into the ventricle, it can hinder the organ's ability to successfully flush blood from the chamber, which can lead to clotting. The metric developed to quantify the jet's penetration is called the E-wave propagation index. The index can be identified using standard diagnostic tools and clinical procedures presently used to assess blood clot risk, but is much more accurate than currently utilized measures.
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Researchers determined one in five patients with severe cardiomyopathy who are not being treated with anticoagulation medication would be identified as at risk for clotting if assessed via the EPI. These patients would benefit from anticoagulation.
"The beauty of the index (EPI) is that it doesn't require any additional measurements. It simply reformulates echocardiogram data into a new metric," said study co-author Rajat Mittal, PhD, a computational fluid dynamics expert, professor of engineering at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and one of the principal investigators on the research. "The clinician doesn't have to do any additional work."
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