Evidence for an enhanced fibrinolytic capacity in cirrhosis as measured with two different global fibrinolysis tests.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

It has been known for a long time that cirrhosis is associated with hyperfibrinolysis, which might contribute to an increased risk and severity of bleeding. However, recent papers have questioned the presence of a hyperfibrinolytic state in cirrhotic patients and postulated a rebalanced system owing to concomitant changes in both pro- and anti-fibrinolytic factors. Therefore we re-investigated the fibrinolytic state of cirrhotic patients using two different overall tests including a recently developed test for global fibrinolytic capacity (GFC) using whole blood.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Blood was collected from 30 healthy controls and 75 patients with cirrhosis of varying severity (34 Child-Pugh A, 28 Child-Pugh B and 13 Child-Pugh C). The plasma clot lysis time (CLT), which is inversely correlated with fibrinolysis, was determined as well as the GFC.

RESULTS

The mean CLT was 74.5 min in the controls and decreased significantly to 66.9 min in Child-Pugh class A patients, 59.3 min in class B patients and 61.0 min in class C patients, and hyperfibrinolysis existed in 40% of the patients. The median GFC was 1.7 μg mL(-1) in the controls and increased significantly to 4.0 μg mL(-1) in Child-Pugh class A patients, 11.1 μg mL(-1) in class B patients and 22.5 μg mL(-1) in class C patients, and hyperfibrinolysis existed in 43% of the patients. Taken together, 60% of the patients showed hyperfibrinolysis in at least one of the two global assays.

CONCLUSION

A rebalanced fibrinolytic system may occur, but hyperfibrinolysis is found in the majority of patients with cirrhosis.