Associated Factors with Left Atrial Enlargement in Patients with Acute Ischemic Stroke.

The Authors Reply We greatly appreciate the letter to the editor submitted by Ozcan et al. As brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) can be a surrogate marker for left atrial appendage dysfunction and cardiogenic stroke in patients with acute ischemic stroke (1), their suggestion regarding the relationship between BNP and D-dimer may be useful for evaluating the fundamental thrombogenic mechanisms in cardiogenic stroke, particularly in non-valvular atrial fibrillation-related stroke. Unfortunately, we did not determine the BNP serum level in the enrolled patients and are therefore unable to provide data on BNP levels at admission. We hope that future studies will further explore the relationship between BNP and D-dimer levels.

The authors state that they have no Conflict of Interest (COI).