title: Patients with coronary artery disease who present with chest pain have significantly elevated platelet contractile force and clot elastic modulus.
abstract: Rapid laboratory markers that correlate with patient risk would facilitate the decision making regarding admission of patients with chest pain (CP). Platelet contractile force (PCF) and clot elastic modulus (CEM) are elevated in patients undergoing coronary bypass grafting. This study assessed PCF, CEM, and platelet aggregation in patients presenting to the emergency department with chest pain (CP). Results were compared with fifty normal controls. Both the total group of CP patients (n = 100) and the subset of patients (n = 36) with documented coronary artery disease (CAD) had significantly elevated PCF and CEM, and significantly decreased platelet aggregation relative to normal (p <0.001 for the total group, p </=0.008 for patients with CAD). Patients with electrocardiographic evidence of ischemia had the highest PCF and CEM values of any patient group. Increased PCF and CEM were not due to higher platelet counts, and PCF did not differ by race.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Medical College of Virginia Hospitals of Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia, USA.
authors.forename: Ashok
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Krishnaswami
authors.forename: Marcus E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Carr
authors.forename: Robert L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Jesse
authors.forename: Michael C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Kontos
authors.forename: Anthony J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Minisi
authors.forename: Joseph P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Ornato
authors.forename: George W
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Vetrovec
authors.forename: Erika J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Martin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D001792:Blood Platelets / Q000502:physiology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002637:Chest Pain / Q000097:blood*; D003018:Clot Retraction; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010974:Platelet Aggregation; D010979:Platelet Function Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D044469:Racial Groups; D012720:Severity of Illness Index