Fehmi Keçe

Chapter 5 118 5.2 Methods Thirty-two patients (age 58±9 years, 23 men) with paroxysmal AF undergoing ablation with the PVAC-Gold catheter were included in the analysis. Doppler signals were recorded throughout the ablation and MES were automatically identified offline using an in-house developed MATLAB algorithm. Coagulation markers were measured before ablation (T1), after the last application (T2), and 1 day after the ablation (T3). Expected early changes (T2-T1) in coagulation markers (prothrombin fragment as a marker of thrombin generation, fibrinogen as an acute phase marker, von Willebrand factor antigen as a marker of endothelial damage, and soluble p-selectin as a marker of platelet activation) and expected late changes (T3-T1) in coagulation markers (D-dimer as a marker of fibrin turnover and tissue plasminogen activator as a marker of fibrinolysis) were univariably correlated with (log-transformed) MES counts.