Relation of haemostatic, fibrinolytic, and rheological variables to the angiographic extent of peripheral arterial occlusive disease.

We investigated the relationships between the angiographic severity of peripheral arterial occlusive disease (PAOD) and haemostasis, fibrinolytic, and rheological variables in 219 patients with symptomatic peripheral arterial occlusive disease (PAOD). White cell count, fibrinogen, cross-linked fibrin degradation products (FDP), von Willebrand factor, and plasminogen activator inhibitor levels were all elevated in comparison with age-matched population controls (all p < 0.0001, Mann-Whitney U test), while fibrinogen (Spearman r = 0.30), von Willebrand factor (r = 0.40), and log (FDP) (r = 0.56), (all p < 0.0001) showed a strong correlation with the angiographic extent of PAOD. Multivariate analysis indicated that log (FDP) was a strong independent predictor of the angiographic severity of PAOD (p < 0.0001), in addition to increasing age (p < 0.0001), presence of tissue sepsis (p < 0.02), prior vascular surgery (p = 0.007), and other vascular pathology (p = 0.007). These results confirm that increase in fibrinogen, von Willebrand factor, plasminogen activator inhibitor and fibrin turnover, are strongly associated with the presence of symptomatic peripheral arterial disease, and suggest that there may be a causal link between fibrin turnover, as determined by FDP levels, and the extent of peripheral arterial occlusive disease.