The association between Factor V Leiden with the presence and severity of coronary artery disease

Objectives: The presence of Factor V Leiden (FVL) is proposed to be associated with a higher risk for arterial thrombosis. The aim of this study was to examine a relationship between FVL with the presence and severity of angiographically determined coronary artery disease (CAD).

Design and methods: In this case-control study, 1083 patients having angiographic evidence of atherosclerosis with ≥50% luminal stenosis in their epicardial coronary tree were compared with patients with no luminal stenosis (n=320) or with luminal stenosis <50% (n=191) at coronary angiography as reference group. The severity of CAD was determined by vessel score and also a semi-quantitative scoring system (Gensini score). The presence of Factor V polymorphisms was analyzed using polymerase chain reaction-based restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP).

Results: FVL was found to be independently associated with the occurrence of CAD (p=0.020). As compared to wild genotype, heterozygote or homozygote mutant genotypes were more likely associated with a trend towards more severe CAD (adjusted OR=1.85, 95% CI=1.26 to 2.72; p=0.002, and adjusted OR=3.70, 95% CI=1.71 to 8.00; p=0.001; respectively). In addition, the median and inter-quartile range for Gensini score were significantly different among the GG (27.8, 3 to 66.5), GA (53.5, 10 to 104.1), and AA (92.8, 48.1 to 125.9) genotypes (p<0.001).

Conclusions: Our results confirmed the hypothesis that FVL mutation is a significant determinant of CAD risk. Furthermore, we observed that FVL is independently associated with increasing CAD severity.