Kneihsl M, et al. - In this investigation, researchers tested the premise that blood biomarkers showing heart failure, such as N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), and hypercoagulability, such as D-dimer, antithrombin-III, were correlated with atrial fibrillation (AF)-related stroke and could forecast the likelihood of AF detection in cryptogenic stroke (CS) patients early on. Of 429 patients, 103 had stroke associated with AF. The relationship of NT-proBNP and, to a smaller extent, of hypercoagulation markers with AF-related stroke was supported in this analysis. NT-proBNP appears to be useful in choosing patients with CS for immediate extended cardiac rhythm surveillance to find occult AF where <505 pg/ml levels appear to have a high negative predictive value. With a sensitivity of 93% and a specificity of 72%, NT-proBNP ≥505 pg/ml distinguished AF-related from noncardiac stroke.