Antithrombin III (At-III) was measured at the time of admission and two days later
in 131 patients laid up in a coronary care unit. The patients were examined for deep-vein
thrombosis (DVT) clinically and by means of 125I-fibrinogen scanning. 19 patients developed DVT. In 11 subjects with and 25 without
DVT At-III decreased more than 10%. And in 7 with and 17 without DVT At-III decreased
more than 15%. One person with DVT had subnormal At-III. By using decrease of At-III
or subnormal initial At-III to predict DVT the following predictive value (PV) were
found. Decrease ≤ 10%, PV pos.= 0.32 and PV neg. = 0.93. Decrease ≤ 15%, PV pos. =
0.32 and PV neg. = 0.90. The positive predictive values obtained were too low to let
decreasing At-III give occasion for prophylactic anticoagulant treatment.
Key words
Antithrombin III - Decrease - Deep-vein thrombosis - Predictive values - Myocardial
infarction