Drabik L, Konieczyńska M, Undas A, et al. - Researchers examined the link between impaired fibrinolysis and clinical outcomes among 236 patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) taking vitamin K antagonists (VKA) in this longitudinal cohort study. In these patients, ex vivo plasma clot lysis time (CLT), von Willebrand factor antigen, plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 antigen (PAI-1), and other fibrinolysis modulators were measured. CLT > 115 minutes, PAI-1 and CHA2DS2-VASc score ≥ 3 were identified as independent predictors of stroke or transient ischemic attack in the multivariate Cox regression analysis adjusted for potential confounders. There were no links of CLT with death, major and minor bleeding events. They concluded that thromboembolic events in AF patients taking VKA may be predicted by impaired fibrinolysis. An eight-fold higher chance stroke or transient ischemic attack was seen in patients with CLT > 115 minutes vs the remainder.