New insights in the risk profile for arterial thrombosis : differences and similarities in risk factors between myocardial infarction and ischaemic stroke

This thesis reports on studies that have investigated the role of several factors on the risk of arterial thrombosis. The thesis is organised in two sections. The first section (Chapters 2-5) deals with risk factors for the first arterial thrombotic event whereas the second section (Chapters 6 and 7) concerns risk factors for recurrence. The investigations touch several aspects of epidemiology, and make use of several observational study designs, encompassing case control, cohort and meta-analysis. Several statistical models were also applied ranging from logistic regression models, Cox proportional hazards time to event regression models as well as non-parametric statistics. Because of the heterogeneous nature, each investigation had specific problems in study design, data collection and analyses. A common line, however, is the haemostatic balance and its markers. Taken together, the findings of this thesis lead to the conclusion that there are differences in the aetiology of the two main forms of arterial thrombosis. Indeed, they support the hypothesis that hypercoagulability plays a greater role in the pathogenesis of ischaemic stroke than in that of myocardial infarction.