Hemostatic abnormalities in patients with pulmonary embolism compared with that in deep vein thrombosis.

We investigated hemostatic abnormalities in 37 patients with deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE) (PE patients) and in 40 patients with DVT without PE (DVT patients). Plasma fibrinogen, thrombin-antithrombin complex (TAT), plasmin-plasmin inhibitor complex, fibrin-D-dimer, activated protein C (APC)-protein C inhibitor (PCI) complex, von Willebrand factor (vWf), tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA), PA inhibitor-I (PAI-1), and thrombomodulin levels in both PE and DVT patients were significantly increased compared with normal volunteers. Plasma APC-PCI complex, PAI-1, and vWf levels in PE patients were significantly higher than those in DVT patients without PE. These findings indicate that PE patients are more hypercoagulable and hypofibrinolytic than DVT patients. Plasma TAT, APC-PCI complex, PAI-1, and vWf levels were the most sensitive indicators for PE. In these patients, increases in TAT and APC-PCI complex suggest DVT and increased PAI-1 and vWf suggest the risk of onset of PE.