Arterial endothelial dysfunction and idiopathic deep venous thrombosis

• Published in: Journal of biological regulators and homeostatic agents Vol. 25; no. 4; p. 565
• Main Authors: Mazzoccoli, G, Grilli, M, Ferrandino, F, Copetti, M, Fontana, A, Pellegrini, F, Dagostino, M P, De Cata, A, Vendemiale, G
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Italy 01.10.2011
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Brachial Artery - physiology; Endothelium, Vascular - physiopathology; Female; Humans; Logistic Models; Male; Middle Aged; Vasodilation; Venous Thrombosis - physiopathology
• ISSN: 0393-974X

Recent epidemiological studies have highlighted higher risk of subsequent development of atherosclerotic disease in patients with deep venous thrombosis (DVT). We evaluated the Flow Mediated Dilation (FMD) looking for arterial endothelial dysfunction, predictive for future ischaemic cardiovascular events, in patients with idiopathic DVT. FMD was measured in the brachial artery in 60 subjects with idiopathic DVT (age 60.1±17.4) and in 60 subjects without idiopathic DVT (age 61.2±15.1), with a similar cardiovascular risk factor profile. DVT patients showed lower FMD (6.78%±5.53% vs 10.88±3.31%, p<0.001). Univariate linear models showed that obesity (p=0.010), dyslipidemia (p=0.004), arterial hypertension (p=0.046), use of platelet anti-aggregating agents (p=0.018) and DVT (p<0.001) were associated to lower levels of FMD. In multivariate linear model, only DVT (p<0.001) remained an independent predictor of lower levels of FMD. Furthermore, an 8.5% cut-off value of FMD was chosen in a ROC curve analysis. Values of FMD ≤ 8.5% were more frequent in DVT patients (71.67% vs 41.67%, p<0.001). Univariate logistic regression models showed that dyslipidemia (p=0.008), use of platelet anti-aggregating agents (p=0.004) and DVT (p<0.001) were associated to a higher risk of having FMD ≤ 8.5%. Multivariate logistic regression model showed that DVT was the unique independent predictor for FMD ≤ 8.5% (p<0.001). In conclusion, DVT patients more frequently have impaired FMD, recognized as an indicator of arterial endothelial dysfunction and a marker for increased cardiovascular risk.