Urinary prothrombin fragment 1+2 in patients with venous thrombosis and myocardial infarction.

Patients with venous-thromboembolism (VTE) and myocardial infarction (MI) have elevated prothrombin fragment 1+2 (F1+2) levels. In patients with postoperative VTE, urinary F1+2 (uF1+2) was higher than in individuals without VTE. To explore the relationship between plasma and uF1+2 we performed a pilot study in patients with thrombotic events and healthy controls. In 40 patients with VTE or MI, and 25 age- and sex-matched healthy controls, F1+2 and D-dimer levels were measured in urine and plasma within 48 h after diagnosis. In addition, in all subjects renal function was assessed. Plasma and uF1+2 levels were positively correlated. Compared to controls, patients with VTE had higher levels of both plasma F1+2 (271 vs 160 pmol L(-1), p < 0.05) and uF1+2 levels (38 vs 28 pmol L(-1)), the latter, however, was not statistically significant. Patients with acute MI had similar F1+2 levels as controls in both plasma and urine. Differences in urinary F1+2 levels could not be attributed to differences in concentrations of creatinine or albumin in spot urine samples. Overall, D-dimer and F1+2 levels in urine were extremely low in all groups.