Background and Purpose Hypercoagulability increases the risk of arterial
thrombosis; however, this effect may differ between various manifestations of
arterial disease. Methods In this study, we compared the effect of coagulation
factors as measures of hypercoagulability on the risk of ischaemic stroke (IS)
and myocardial infarction (MI) by performing a systematic review of the
literature. The effect of a risk factor on IS (relative risk for IS, RRIS) was
compared with the effect on MI (RRMI) by calculating their ratio (RRR =
RRIS/RRMI). A relevant differential effect was considered when RRR was >1+ its
own standard error (SE) or <1−SE. Results We identified 70 publications,
describing results from 31 study populations, accounting for 351 markers of
hypercoagulability. The majority (203/351, 58%) had an RRR greater than 1. A
larger effect on IS risk than MI risk (RRE>1+1SE) was found in 49/343 (14%)
markers. Of these, 18/49 (37%) had an RRR greater than 1+2SE. On the opposite
side, a larger effect on MI risk (RRR<1-1SE) was found in only 17/343 (5%)
markers. Conclusions These results suggest that hypercoagulability has a more
pronounced effect on the risk of IS than that of MI
