Summary
Several haemostatic factors have been shown to have a predictive role in cardiovascular
disease, although their relationship with prevalent peripheral arterial disease is
not well reported. Using a random sample of 1592 men and women aged 55-74 years from
Edinburgh, Scotland, we examined the relationship of von Willebrand factor (vWF),
tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA) and fibrin D-dimer antigens and factor VII activity
to peripheral arterial disease. t-PA antigen and fibrin D-dimer showed significant
linear trends of increased levels with increasing severity of disease in both sexes
(p ≤0.01) and vWF showed a similar pattern in men only (p ≤0.01). On multivariate
analysis, fibrin D-dimer was independently related to the risk of intermittent claudication
(p ≤0.01) and, among men, to the extent of arterial narrowing in the lower limb, as
measured by the ankle brachial pressure index, (ABPI) (p ≤0.001). These results are
further evidence of a role for intravascular fibrin deposition in the development
of peripheral atherosclerosis.
