Upregulation of Coagulation Factor VIII and Fibrinogen After Pulmonary Endarterectomy in Patients with Chronic Thromboembolic Pulmonary Hypertension

OBJECTIVES

Chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) is associated with thrombotic states including elevated coagulation factor VIII (FVIII). Pulmonary endarterectomy (PEA) is the main treatment for CTEPH, and efficient anticoagulation is essential to prevent thromboembolism recurrence after surgery. We aimed to characterize longitudinal changes in FVIII and other coagulation biomarkers after PEA.

METHODS

Coagulation biomarker levels were measured at baseline and up to 12 months after operation in 17 consecutive patients with PEA. Temporal patterns of coagulation biomarkers, and correlation of FVIII with other coagulation biomarkers, were analyzed.

RESULTS

Baseline FVIII levels were elevated in 71% of the patients (mean 216 ± 67 IU/dl). FVIII doubled 7 days after PEA, peaking at 471 ± 87 IU/dl, and gradually returned to respective baseline levels within 3 months. Postoperative fibrinogen levels were also elevated. Antithrombin decreased at 1 to 3 days, D-dimer increased at 1 to 4 weeks, and thrombocytosis was observed at 2 weeks.

CONCLUSIONS

FVIII is elevated in most patients with CTEPH. After PEA, early but transient elevation of FVIII and fibrinogen, and delayed reactive thrombocytosis, occurs, and warrants careful postoperative anticoagulation to prevent thromboembolism recurrence.

Association of D-dimer with long-term prognosis in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients with acute coronary syndrome

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) accounts for more and more individuals worldwide. D-dimer has been demonstrated to be associated with cardiovascular diseases. The aim is to study the potential impact of D-dimer on the long-term prognosis of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) in the special population with type 2 DM.

METHODS AND RESULTS

A total of 2265 consecutive patients with DM and ACS were eligible in the study. Patients were divided into four groups according to quartiles of D-dimer concentration. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analysis were conducted to explore the prognostic value of D-dimer for future outcomes. Patients with higher level of D-dimer presented with higher percentage of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs) (23.7%), all-cause death (18.3%) and cardiovascular (CV) death (9.4%) in Quartile 4. In multivariate Cox regression analysis, D-dimer was demonstrated to be independently associated with MACEs, all-cause death and CV death. The prognostic value of D-dimer is still significant in subgroups of HbA1C <7% and ≥7%. In Kaplan-Meier analysis, higher D-dimer showed poorer prognosis in MACEs, all-cause death and CV death (all log rank p < 0.001). The area under the curve (AUC) by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis is 0.609 for MACEs, 0.708 for all-cause death, 0.747 for CV death (p < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

The present study demonstrated the independent predictive value of D-dimer for outcomes in DM patients with ACS. In addition, for the first time, we explored the prognostic value in different glucose control status.

The Role of Serum Tenascin-C in Predicting In-Hospital Death in Acute Aortic Dissection

Tenascin-C (TNC) is involved in aortic disease pathophysiology. This study aims to evaluate TNC's value for predicting in-hospital death in acute aortic dissection (AD).We prospectively enrolled consecutive patients with suspected acute AD within 48 hours from symptom onset. Serum TNC and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels were examined on admission. Their baseline clinical characteristics and serum D-Dimer (DD) were collected. The endpoint was in-hospital death from AD.In the study cohort,78 survivors and 31 non-survivors with acute AD were enrolled. Compared to survivors, elevated median levels of serum TNC (141.10 pg/mL versus 75.30 pg/mL, P < 0.001), DD (8.74 μg/mL versus 4.58 μg/mL, P < 0.001), and CRP (19.20 mg/L versus 13.40 mg/L, P < 0.001) were found in non-survivors. Multiple logistic regressions revealed TNC, DD, and CRP were independent predictors of in-hospital death from acute AD. The OR and 95% CI were 1.038, 1.017-1.055; 1.084, 1.009-1.165 and 1.386, 1.107-1.643, respectively. Furthermore, TNC's sensitivity and specificity in predicting in-hospital death in acute AD were 83.87% and 83.33%. The combination of TNC and DD can improve the sensitivity and specificity to 90.30% and 88.46%.TNC is a valuable biomarker for predicting in-hospital death from acute AD. The combination of TNC and DD can improve predictions of in-hospital death from acute AD.

D-Dimer to Predict the Clinical Outcomes in Patients with Mechanical Heart Valve Replacement During Oral Anticoagulation Therapy

Mechanical heart valve replacement (MHVR) entails lifetime oral anticoagulation to eliminate thrombosis. However, adverse events may still occur despite proper anticoagulation therapy. In this study, we investigated whether D-dimer can predict the clinical events in post-MHVR patients during oral anticoagulation therapy.This was a single-center, prospective study. In all, 772 patients who underwent MHVR in the Wuhan Asia Heart Hospital from January 2013 to May 2014 were screened. Patients were assigned to the abnormal D-dimer group and the normal D-dimer group according to the D-dimer levels measured 3 months after the beginning of the oral anticoagulation therapy regime. All patients were followed up for 24 months or until the observation of the endpoints, which included thrombotic events, bleeding events, and all-cause deaths.A total of 718 patients were included in the analysis: 91 had abnormal D-dimer levels, and 627 had normal D-dimer levels. In all, 53 events were observed during 24 months. Compared with the normal D-dimer group, patients with abnormal D-dimer levels had a higher incidence of thrombotic events (10 versus 14; hazard ratio (HR): 5.36; 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.38-12.1; P < 0.001), all-cause mortality (8 versus 13; HR: 4.65; 95% CI: 1.93-11.2; P < 0.001), and a higher incidence of total events (16 versus 37; HR: 3.26; 95% CI: 1.81-5.86; P < 0.001). No significant difference was observed in bleeding events (2 versus 21; HR: 0.72; 95% CI: 0.17-3.07; P = 0.66).D-dimer may be a useful marker to predict thrombotic events and all-cause deaths in post-MHVR patients during oral anticoagulation therapy (ClinicalTrials.gov; NCT01996657).