Factor VII levels in patients undergoing coronary angiography: Factor VII and coronary artery disease

Background Factor VII (F VII) has been widely investigated as a risk factor for coronary atherosclerosis, however there is still debate about its role in the progression of coronary artery disease (CAD). In this study F VII l evels were measured in patients with angiographically proven CAD and its re lation with disease severity, coronary events and with other risk factors o f coronary atherosclerosis were examined. Methods Consecutive patients referred to coronary angiography were divided in three groups: 1. CAD group- those with a significant lesion in one or mo re coronary arteries (n=155), 2. High-risk group - patients with normal cor onary arteries and with two or more risk factors (n =54), 3. Controls - pat ients with normal coronary arteries and with no or one risk factor (n = 90) . CAD group was also studied according to the number of vessels involved an d to the history of coronary events. Results Mean F VII levels were not different between the three groups of pa tients. In CAD group, F VII increased parallel to the number of vessels inv olved (one vessel disease: 85 +/- 20%, two vessel disease: 92 +/- 23%, thre e vessel disease: 105 +/- 23%). Patients with a history of coronary events had significantly higher F VII levels than those without such a history (96 +/- 25% versus 89 +/- 22% respectively, P= 0.02). However, logistic regres sion analysis revealed no significant relation between F VII and either the presence of CAD or coronary events. Conclusions F VII levels increase in patients with previous coronary events , but it is not an independent risk factor for the progression or for the s everity of CAD.