HEMOSTATIC AND RHEOLOGICAL FACTORS AS PREDICTORS OF RESTENOSIS FOLLOWING PERCUTANEOUS TRANSLUMINAL ANGIOPLASTY

Objectives: To determine whether pre-angioplasty levels of haemostatic and rheological factors predicted restenosis of the dilated arterial segment following percutaneous transluminal angioplasty. Design and se tting: Prospective study. Two regional hospital centres for angioplast y in Edinburgh and Glasgow, Scotland, UK. Method: Haemostatic and rheo logical factors were measured in 102 subjects with atherosclerotic dis ease of the lower limbs, immediately prior to percutaneous translumina l angioplasty. Subjects were followed up after 2-3 years for restenosi s of the original angioplasty site using duplex scanning. Results: Bas eline clinical characteristics were similar between subjects who reste nosed (n=27) and those with no restenosis (n=39), except that occluded lesions were more likely to restenosis than stenoses (p less than or equal to 0.05). There was no significant difference in age- and sex-ad justed mean levels of whole blood viscosity, plasma viscosity, haemato crit, von Willebrand factor, fibrin D-dimer or plasminogen activator i nhibitor-1 activity between the stenosed and no restenosis groups (p>0 .1), but mean plasma fibrinogen was lower in the restenosed group (3.3 1 g/l vs. 3.75 g/l; p less than or equal to 0.05). These results persi sted after multivariate adjustment for smoking habit and type of lesio n dilated. Conclusions: This study provides no evidence that raised, p re-angioplasty levels of haemostatic and rheological factors predict r estenosis following percutaneous transluminal angioplasty of the arter ies of the lower limbs.