Limited value of novel pulmonary embolism biomarkers in patients with coronary atherosclerosis.
Clin Physiol Funct Imaging. 2011 Nov;31(6):452-7
Authors: Gutte H, Mortensen J, Hag AM, Jensen CV, Kristoffersen US, Brinth L, Kjaer A
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Recent research supports the efficacy of various plasma biomarkers in diagnosing pulmonary embolism (PE) including E-selectin, MMP-9, MPO, sVCAM-1, sICAM-1, adiponectin, hs-CRP and tPAI-1.
OBJECTIVE: We hypothesized that these biomarkers, which are affected in both venous and arterial thromboembolic diseases, have a limited potential of diagnosing PE in patients with concomitant coronary atherosclerosis, as assessed from a low-dose CT scan of the thorax, compared to patients without atherosclerosis.
METHODS: Consecutive patients suspected of PE were referred. All patients had a ventilation/perfusion single photon emission tomography (V/Q-SPECT), low-dose pulmonary CT, pulmonary multidetector computer tomography angiography, blood samples and ECG-gated cardiac CT performed the same day.
RESULTS: A total of 69 patients were included, of which 28 (41%) had PE. In patients without coronary calcium, MMP-9 and tPAI-1 were significantly elevated (P<0·042 and P<0·049) in patients diagnosed with PE. From the receiver operating curves, we chose a cut-off value for MMP-9 at 164·4 ng l(-1) , which yielded sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values of 63%, 78%, 71% and 70%, respectively. With a chosen cut-off value for tPAI-1 at 56·3 ng l(-1) , the sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values were 88%, 89%, 88% and 89%, respectively. In patients with coronary calcium, none of the biomarkers could discriminate between PE and no PE.
CONCLUSION: Plasma levels of tPAI-1 and MMP-9 are potentially useful in patients suspected of PE, however, not in the presence of the coronary atherosclerosis.
PMID: 21981456 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]