Prevalence of resistance against activated protein C resulting from factor V Leiden is significantly increased in myocardial infarction: investigation of 507 patients with myocardial infarction.
BACKGROUND
A point mutation in the gene encoding coagulation factor V is a cause of resistance against activated protein C. The presence of factor V Leiden is linked to 50% of congenital defects causing venous thrombosis. Its relationship to arterial thrombosis, particularly to myocardial infarction, has not been defined. Therefore, we performed a study on the role of factor V Leiden in patients with myocardial infarction. The study was carried out in Bavarians of German origin, a relatively homogeneous population.


RESULTS
The study group consisted of 507 patients with documented myocardial infarction (77.5% (393/507) men, 22.5% (114/507) women), with a mean age of 56.1 (range 18-86) years. Strict criteria for patient selection and highly sensitive and specific functional tests for factor V Leiden were used. In addition, all patients with pathological test results were genotyped. The prevalence of factor V Leiden in patients with myocardial infarction was 8.7% (44/507), a significant increase in the prevalence of this mutation compared with the control group (3.7%, P =.0025). The odds ratio was 2.46 (95% CI 1.35-4.50).


CONCLUSIONS
A significantly increased prevalence of factor V Leiden in patients with documented myocardial infarction was seen. Patients with this mutation appear to have a predisposition for myocardial infarction.
Middendorf
Katharina
K
Medical Clinic I, Klinikum Grosshadern, Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, Germany.
Göhring
Peter
P
Huehns
Tanya Y
TY
Seidel
Dietrich
D
Steinbeck
Gerhard
G
Nikol
Sigrid
S
D020016:Activated Protein C Resistance / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000235:genetics; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D005165:Factor V / Q000032:analysis* / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology; D016017:Odds Ratio; D015995:Prevalence
C095381:factor V Leiden; D005165:Factor V