Prothrombotic activity is associated with the anatomical as well as the functional severity of peripheral arterial occlusive disease.

The importance of prothrombotic activity in cardiovascular disease has been well established. However, limited data exist on the relationship between prothrombotic activity and the severity of peripheral arterial occlusive disease (PAD). The objective of the present study was to investigate the relationship between markers of haemostasis and the diagnostic measures of PAD: ankle-brachial-index (ABI), maximum treadmill walking distance and angiographic score. In a cross-sectional study of 127 patients (mean age 66 years; 64% males) with angiographically verified PAD, fasting blood samples were drawn, and citrated plasma was obtained for determination of selected haemostatic variables: von Willebrand factor (vWF), thrombomodulin (sTM), thrombin-antithrombin complex (TAT), soluble tissue factor (sTF), tPA antigen (tPAag) and D-dimer were all significantly correlated with the angiographic score (p < 0.05 for all). D-dimer, tPAag and fibrinogen were inversely correlated with the maximum treadmill walking distance, (p < 0.0001, p < 0.04 and p < 0.05, respectively), whereas fibrinogen was the only variable correlating to ABI (r = -0.223, p < 0.05). After adjustment for relevant covariates, D-dimer and TAT remained statistically significantly associated with the angiographic score (p < 0.001), and fibrinogen was, independent of other risk factors, inversely related with both the maximum treadmill walking distance and the ABI (p < 0.01 for both). This rather large study in patients with PAD showed that plasma levels of D-dimer, TAT and fibrinogen significantly predicted the extent of atherosclerosis, evaluated by angiographic score, maximum treadmill walking distance and ABI, respectively. These findings demonstrate a prothrombotic state in PAD patients, which might be of importance in future diagnosis and treatment of the disease.