Comparison of Clinical Characteristics between Patients with and without SCEs
Sixty-six patients (23.1%) had SCEs (SCE[+]) and the remaining 219 patients did not (SCE[-], Table 1). Average age was significantly higher in SCE[+] than SCE[-]. The prevalence of persistent AF, CHADS2/CHA2DS2-VASc scores, the prevalence of stroke/TIA, and serum NT-ProBNP levels were higher in SCE[+] than in SCE[-]. In transthoracic echocardiography, left-atrial dimension (LAD) was significantly larger in SCE[+] than SCE[-]. In TEE, spontaneous echo contrast (SEC) were more frequently observed in SCE[+] than in SCE[-]. During the procedure, SCE[+] had lower baseline ACT values before UFH injection and longer time to reach optimal ACT (> 300 sec) than SCE [-]. The amount of UFH to reach the optimal ACT and the total amount of UFH for the entire procedure were comparable between SCE[+] and SCE[-] (Table 1).