Impact of Educational Level on Anticoagulation Control in Patients Receiving Warfarin Therapy (original) (raw)

Method: A total of 150 consecutive chronic MP users (50 male with a mean age of 32.5AE5.4 years), cigarette smokers (50 male with a mean age of 32.1AE6.0 years) and controls (50 male with a mean age of 30.1AE5.8 years) were included in the study. Left atrial volumes were measured echocardiographically according to biplane area-length method in apical four-chamber and two-chamber views. Atrial electromechanical coupling was measured with TDI. LA mechanical function parameters were calculated. Result: LA passive emptying fraction and LA active emptying volume was significantly decreased in MP groups than control groups (p¼0.012 and, p¼0.024, respectively) and LA active emptying fraction were significantly increased in cigarette smoking groups than control groups (p¼0.003). There were the positive correlation between the amount of MP and smoking (pack years) with LA active emptying volume (r¼0.30, p¼0.002). PA lateral was significantly higher in patients with MP users than controls and PA septum was statistically higher in patients with cigarette smokers (p¼0.04 and p¼0.05, respectively). The amount of MP and smoking (pack years) was correlated with PA lateral, PA septum and interatrial electromechanical delay (r¼0.48, p<0.001, r¼0.60, p<0.001 and r¼0.66, p<0.001, respectively). Conclusıon: The main finding of this study is that some of the parameters of the atrial electromechanical coupling intervals and left atrial mechanical function were found significantly lower in MP users group and cigarette smokers group compared to healthy users whereas there was no significant difference between the MP users and cigarette smokers group. Also, the amount of MP and cigarette (pack years) was correlated with PA lateral, PA septum, interatrial electromechanical delay and LA active emptying volume.