Gender-related differences in thrombogenic factors predicting recurrent cardiac events in patients after acute myocardial infarction. The THROMBO Investigators

Am J Cardiol. 2000 Jun 15;85(12):1401-8. doi: 10.1016/s0002-9149(00)00785-2.

Abstract

Thrombosis contributes to recurrent coronary events in patients after acute myocardial infarction (AMI), but prognostic significance of thrombogenic factors by gender is unknown. This study aimed to determine gender-related differences in the prognostic significance of thrombogenic factors for predicting cardiac events (nonfatal reinfarction or cardiac death) in postinfarction patients. Blood levels of the following factors were measured 2 months after AMI in 791 men and 254 women: fibrinogen, von Willebrand factor, factor VII and VIIa, plasminogen activator inhibitor, D-dimer, cholesterol, apolipoprotein A-1, apolipoprotein B, lipoprotein(a), triglycerides, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. After adjustment for clinical covariates, levels of apolipoprotein A, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, fibrinogen, and factor VIIa were significantly higher in postinfarction women than men. During a mean 26-month follow-up, there were 67 cardiac events (8.5%) in men and 14 (5.5%) in women (p = 0.11). In the multivariate Cox model, elevated levels of factor VIIa were a significant predictor of cardiac events in women (p = 0.022) but not in men (p = 0.80), with significant gender-related effect (hazard ratio 2.80 vs 0.92, respectively; p <0.05). D-dimer had prognostic value in men (p = 0. 006) but not in women (p = 0.36), although the difference between hazard ratios for men and women was not significant (2.35 vs 1.58, respectively; p = 0.49). In conclusion, elevated levels of factor VIIa are associated with an increased risk of recurrent cardiac events in postinfarction women, but not in men. D-dimer is more predictive for cardiac events in postinfarction men than women. These observations indicate possible gender-related differences in the pathophysiologic mechanisms of recurrent cardiac events.

Publication types

  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Apolipoproteins / blood
  • Blood Coagulation Factors / analysis*
  • Female
  • Follow-Up Studies
  • Heart Diseases / mortality
  • Humans
  • Lipids / blood*
  • Male
  • Multivariate Analysis
  • Myocardial Infarction / blood*
  • Myocardial Infarction / epidemiology
  • Prognosis
  • Proportional Hazards Models
  • Recurrence
  • Risk Factors
  • Sex Characteristics

Substances

  • Apolipoproteins
  • Blood Coagulation Factors
  • Lipids