fibrin and Convalescence

Fibrin and fibrinogen degradation products in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF-FDP) were first studied in a group of 29 patients observed during the first and the second week after subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), then in a second group of 26 patients for a total of 55 patients. In the latter group only the first FDP value obtained as soon as possible after SAH was taken in consideration. In the whole series of 55 patients several noteworthy factors were found: 1) FDP determination should be performed as soon as possible after SAH; 2) CSF-FDP at or above 40, 80 micrograms/ml was found both in the patients with severe neurological deficits and in those with cerebral ischemia (statistically significant); 3) the significance of CSF-FDP in patients who rebled was also evaluated. In conclusion CSF-FDP could be considered useful in predicting cerebral ischemia.

Topics: Aneurysm, Ruptured; Biomarkers; Brain Ischemia; Cerebrospinal Fluid Proteins; Consciousness Disorders; Convalescence; Fibrin; Fibrin Fibrinogen Degradation Products; Fibrinolysis; Humans; Intracranial Aneurysm; Ischemic Attack, Transient; Recurrence; Rupture, Spontaneous; Severity of Illness Index; Subarachnoid Hemorrhage

Circulating D-dimer and thrombomodulin (TM) levels are now routinely measured in clinical laboratories. Plasma levels of D-dimer are used as a marker of fibrin formation and degradation, and serum TM is used to assess the state of endothelial cell injuries. While the levels of circulating D-dimer and TM have been investigated in many diseases, to our knowledge they have not been studied in patients with measles. We measured circulating levels of D-dimer in patients with measles to discuss whether fibrin formation and degradation occur and TM whether endothelial injury occur.. The plasma levels of D-dimer and serum levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and creatinine were measured of 14 adolescent and adult Japanese patients with measles, and the serum or plasma levels of TM of 10 of these 14 patients were measured in the acute febrile phase and convalescent afebrile phase with commercially available kits.. Plasma D-dimer levels were significantly higher in the acute febrile phase than in the convalescent afebrile phase in patients with measles, and no significant difference was shown in serum and plasma TM levels between the two phases. Plasma D-dimer levels were not correlated with serum or plasma TM levels in either phase. No significant differences were identified in the serum ALT and creatinine levels between the acute febrile and convalescent afebrile phases, and the levels of plasma D-dimer were not significantly correlated with the serum ALT levels.. Our results indicate that while clot formation and fibrinolysis may tend to occur in patients with the acute febrile phase of measles, there may be little risk that such patients will suffer endothelial injury.

Topics: Acute Disease; Acute-Phase Reaction; Adolescent; Adult; Alanine Transaminase; Convalescence; Creatinine; Endothelium; Fever; Fibrin; Fibrin Fibrinogen Degradation Products; Humans; Measles; Morbillivirus; Thrombomodulin

This study investigates the association between the concentration and function of plasma fibrinogen molecules measured at the time of hospital admission in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI), with reference to the risk of new coronary ischemic events during a three-day follow-up period of. Before starting fibrinolytic and anticoagulant treatment plasma fibrinogen, high molecular weight fibrinogen (HMW-fibrinogen), fibrin formation rate (FbFR) and phosphorous content in fibrinogen were determined in 90 AMI patients. During a three-day follow-up period 12 patients suffered new ischemic events. The 12 patients with coronary ischemia had higher concentrations of plasma fibrinogen (312+/-23 vs. 270+/-73 mg/dl, p<0.05) and HMW-fibrinogen (246+/-35 vs. 189+/-23 mg/dl, p<0.001) and a higher FbFR (65+/-30 vs. 40+/-25, p<0.001) than patients without these events. No association was found between the phosphorous content in fibrinogen and new coronary ischemic events. We conclude that after myocardial infarction an elevated plasma level of HMW-fibrinogen and a high FbFR value at the time of hospital admission are associated with new coronary ischemic events during a three-day follow-up period.

Topics: Aged; Biomarkers; Convalescence; Coronary Thrombosis; Female; Fibrin; Fibrinogen; Fibrinopeptide A; Follow-Up Studies; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Molecular Weight; Myocardial Infarction; Phosphorus; Phosphorylation; Protein Processing, Post-Translational; Recurrence