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Updated: Aug 12, 2026
Primary Outcome Assessment in a Pig Model of Acute Myocardial Infarction
Published on: October 14, 2016
Blood changes in atherosclerosis and long after myocardial infarction and venous thrombosis
Insights
Patients with myocardial infarction (MI) and intermittent claudication show long-term clotting abnormalities, including increased heparin neutralizing activity and decreased antithrombin. These findings correlate with atherosclerosis severity.
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular Research
- Hematology
- Clinical Pathology
Background:
- Long-term health consequences of myocardial infarction (MI) and deep vein thrombosis (DVT) require further investigation.
- Understanding chronic disease pathophysiology, including intermittent claudication and diabetes, necessitates examining hematological parameters.
- Identifying persistent hemostatic abnormalities can inform risk stratification and management strategies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate long-term hemostatic abnormalities in patients with a history of myocardial infarction (MI), deep vein thrombosis (DVT), and intermittent claudication.
- To compare these abnormalities with those in patients with diabetes and well-matched healthy controls.
- To correlate hematological findings with the degree of atherosclerosis.
Main Methods:
- Clinical, biochemical, and hematological measurements were performed on patient cohorts and controls.
- Multiple platelet and clotting tests were utilized.
- Atherosclerosis severity was assessed and correlated with hematological parameters.
Main Results:
- Male MI patients exhibited significantly higher heparin neutralizing activity (HNA) and lower antithrombin levels compared to controls.
- Intermittent claudication patients showed similar hemostatic abnormalities to MI patients.
- Deep vein thrombosis patients demonstrated increased HNA, with other tests trending similarly.
- Diabetic patients had shorter bleeding times but fewer other significant abnormalities.
- Increased HNA and decreased antithrombin strongly correlated with the degree of atherosclerosis in male patients.
Conclusions:
- Long-term hemostatic alterations, particularly increased HNA and reduced antithrombin, are associated with cardiovascular diseases like MI and intermittent claudication.
- These hemostatic changes appear linked to the underlying atherosclerotic process.
- Diabetes may involve a distinct pathological pathway with less pronounced hemostatic changes.
Abstract:
The following clinical groups of volunteers were studied: patients long after recovery from myocardial infarction (MI), others after recovery from deep vein thrombosis (DVT), patients with intermittent claudication, with diabetes, and male and female controls who were well matched. All were subjected to many platelet and clotting tests together with clinical, biochemical and haematological measurements in an attempt to find long term abnormalities in these various diseases. The male MIs differed very significantly from the controls in having much more heparin neutralizing activity (P less than 0.001)and less anti-thrombin (P less than 0.01). Less significantly, some bleeding time tests indicated less bleeding and the patients' platelets were larger. The females with MI had in general the same abnormalities but to a lesser degree. The patients with intermittent claudication, none of whom had a history of MI, had almost the same abnormalities and to the same degree. In deep vein thrombosis the heparin neutralizing activity was also clearly increased; the other tests were generally in the same direction but many were not significant. The diabetics had shorter bleeding times but little else abnormal relative to the controls, suggesting a different pathological process. When all male patients and controls were "scored" according to the degree of atherosclerosis there was a close overall correlation between the degree of atherosclerosis and the increase in the HNA level (r = --0.50, n = 66, P less than 0.001) and the decreased anti-thrombin (r = 0.25, n = 66, P less than 0.05).
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