Elevation of plasma fibrinogen in silent myocardial ischaemia

High plasma levels of fibrinogen and plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI-1 ) are reported to be correlated with coronary heart disease. Therefore the level of fibrinogen concentration in plasma was examined and verified for t he possible correlation with the previously explored PAI-1 antigen and PAI- 1 activity in the pathogenesis of premature atherosclerosis (Grzywacz et al ., 1998, Blood Coagul Fibrinol. 9, 245-249). Examination included only men, aged 33-48 years, who were in a stable condition for at least six months a fter the acute event. They were divided into two subgroups: group A (n = 14 ) with and group B (n = 15) without ischaemic changes in 24 h Holter electr ocardiogram. The number of involved vessels visible on the coronarography p icture was similar in both groups. In the patients of group A the mean leve l of fibrinogen (3.92 vs 3.23 g/l, P < 0.05) was higher than in the control s (n = 15). No statistically differences were found between group B and con trol healthy subjects in any of the parameters measured. There were no corr elation between fibrinogen concentration and PAI-1 antigen and activity lev els, which were elevated in both groups of patients according to our previo us study. Our results indicate that elevated levels of plasma fibrinogen an d PAI-1 appeared in the group of patients with more severe disease, as reve aled by silent myocardial ischaemia.