Published online Mar 26, 2022. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v10.i9.2700
Peer-review started: July 15, 2021
First decision: October 18, 2021
Revised: October 29, 2021
Accepted: February 19, 2022
Article in press: February 19, 2022
Published online: March 26, 2022
Processing time: 250 Days and 4.4 Hours
Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a fatal clinical syndrome that is generally caused by an embolus from unstable deep venous thrombosis (DVT). However, clinical and biochemical factors that related to the stability of DVT remain not fully understood.
PE is a fatal clinical syndrome that is generally caused by an embolus from unstable DVT. However, clinical and biochemical factors that related to the stability of DVT remain not fully understood.
This study aims to evaluate the relationships between plasma antigen levels of factor XII (FXII:Ag) and factor XI (FXI:Ag) with the stability of DVT.
Patients with DVT and no PE, DVT and PE, and controls with no DVT or PE that matched for age, gender, and comorbidities were included in this study. FXII:Ag and FXI:Ag in peripheral venous blood were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays.
Using the 95th percentile of FXI:Ag in patients with DVT and PE as the cut-off, a higher FXI:Ag was associated with a higher risk of unstable DVT (odds ratio: 3.15, 95% confidence interval: 1.18-8.43, P = 0.019). Stratified analyses showed consistent results in patients ≤ 60 years (P = 0.020), but not in those > 60 years (P = 0.346).
Higher plasma FXI:Ag might be a marker for unstable DVT, which might be associated with PE in these patients.
Future large-scale studies with multivariate analyses are needed to validate our findings, and to evaluate the potential predictive value of higher FXI:Ag for PE in high-risk DVT patients.