Mesenteric vein thrombosis and vascular plasminogen activator.
A 60-year-old woman with livedo reticularis was examined for defective release of vascular plasminogen activator by a newly described chromogenic assay. Her activator level was only 0.007 Committee on Thrombolytic Agents (CTA) units/mL, compared with a mean of 0.19 CTA units/mL for 84 female controls. Subsequently, the patient died as a result of thrombosis of the portal, splenic, hepatic and superior mesenteric veins with small-bowel infarction. The patient's family had a history of deep and superficial vein thrombosis. Her family's medical history was similar to a recently described pedigree, with low levels of releasable plasminogen activator associated with venous thrombosis. We believe that mesenteric vein thrombosis is a serious potential consequence of defective release of vascular plasminogen activator.
D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008642:Mesenteric Veins / Q000378:metabolism; D008875:Middle Aged; D010375:Pedigree; D010960:Plasminogen Activators / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism*; D013927:Thrombosis / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000401:mortality
D010960:Plasminogen Activators