[Is slow coronary flow related with inflammation and procoagulant state?].
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the pathogenesis of coronary slow flow (CSF), C-reactive protein (CRP) levels as indicator of inflammation and procoagulant activity were studied in patients with CSF.


METHODS
Fifty-one patients (22 female, mean age; 53+/-10 years) who were admitted to our clinic with chest pain and had the diagnosis of CSF established by TIMI frame count method and coronary angiography, and 44 healthy subjects (18 female, mean age; 546 years) with normal coronary flow (NCF) were included in the study. Subjects with any infectious and systemic immune disease were excluded from the study. The CRP levels were measured from venous blood samples during admission, at 24th hour and after 3 months in all subjects. Additionally; fibrinogen, plasminogen, plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI-1), tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA) and von Willebrand factor (vWF) levels were measured to determine the procoagulant activity.


RESULTS
There was no significant difference between CRP levels of patients with CSF and healthy subjects during admission (7.26+/-4.2 ng/dl vs. 6.43+/-2.8 ng/dl, p>0.05), at 24th hour (7.84+/-1.3 ng/dl vs. 6.32+/-2.5 ng/dl, p>0.05) and after 3 months (6.37+/-2.4 ng/dl vs. 6.18+/-3.3 ng/dl, p>0.05). There were no differences between levels of CRP when compared according to the TIMI frame count, number of vessels with CSF and artery in which CSF was dominant. Additionally; procoagulant activity assessed by fibrinogen, plasminogen, PAI-1, t-PA and vWF levels was similar in both groups.


CONCLUSIONS
Our findings on normal levels of CRP and procoagulant activity, and lack of relation with TIMI frame count made us to think that inflammatory and procoagulant activity did not play a role in the pathogenesis of CSF.
Yazici
Mustafa
M
Department of Cardiology, Medical Faculty, Ondokuz Mayis University, Samsun 55139, Turkey. drmeyaz@hotmail.com
Aksakal
Emre
E
Demircan
Sabri
S
Sahin
Mahmut
M
Sağkan
Olcay
O
D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000378:metabolism*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D017023:Coronary Angiography; D005260:Female; D005340:Fibrinogen / Q000378:metabolism; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000097:blood* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010958:Plasminogen / Q000378:metabolism; D017395:Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor 1 / Q000097:blood; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D010959:Tissue Plasminogen Activator / Q000097:blood; D014841:von Willebrand Factor / Q000378:metabolism
D017395:Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor 1; D014841:von Willebrand Factor; D005340:Fibrinogen; D010958:Plasminogen; D002097:C-Reactive Protein; D010959:Tissue Plasminogen Activator