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Published on: September 9, 2012
Elevated Factor VIII Levels Associated with Acute Graft Occlusion and Arterial and Venous Thrombosis After Off Pump
Crystal A Kyaw1, Pey-Jen Yu1, Frank Manetta1
1Department of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery, Hofstra North Shore-Long Island Jewish School of Medicine, Manhasset, New York.
Factor VIII is a common acute phase reactant and elevated levels confer an increased risk of thrombosis. Such thrombotic events have been documented in the literature, though to a limited extent. We present the case of a 54-year-old man presenting with a non-Q-wave myocardial infarction who was found to have triple vessel disease and subsequently underwent a 4-vessel coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). Postoperatively, he was found to have multiple occluded vessels, deep vein thromboses, and a cerebrovascular accident (CVA). A hypercoagulability work-up revealed significantly elevated levels of factor VIII at 377% normal, which likely contributed to these thrombotic events. Further exploration is warranted to elucidate causal mechanisms of these thrombotic events, particularly of multiple graft occlusions, and to guide clinical decision making with regards to anticoagulation and stent management.
Factor VIII is a common acute phase reactant and elevated levels confer an increased risk of thrombosis. Such thrombotic events have been documented in the literature, though to a limited extent. We present the case of a 54-year-old man presenting with a non-Q-wave myocardial infarction who was found to have triple vessel disease and subsequently underwent a 4-vessel coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). Postoperatively, he was found to have multiple occluded vessels, deep vein thromboses, and a cerebrovascular accident (CVA). A hypercoagulability work-up revealed significantly elevated levels of factor VIII at 377% normal, which likely contributed to these thrombotic events. Further exploration is warranted to elucidate causal mechanisms of these thrombotic events, particularly of multiple graft occlusions, and to guide clinical decision making with regards to anticoagulation and stent management.
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Extrinsic and Intrinsic Pathways of Hemostasis
The Extrinsic Pathway
The extrinsic pathway of coagulation is typically initiated by tissue damage that exposes blood to tissue factor (TF), a protein released by the damaged tissue cells outside the blood vessels—this interaction with TF triggers biochemical reactions involving specific clotting factors. The key player here is Factor VII, which...

