Summary
The purpose of this study was to assess the usefulness of plasma fibrinopeptide A
and beta-thromboglobulin concentrations for the diagnosis of acute venous thromboembolism
in patients with a major bacterial infection. In 80 controls the mean plasma fibrinopeptide
A concentration was 0.72 ± 0.47 (ng/ml ± SD) and the mean plasma beta-thromboglobulin
concentration 28.2 ± 10.1 (ng/ml ± SD).
On admission the mean fibrinopeptide A concentration was significantly raised (5.42
ng/ml) in these patients and 17 of them had a raised fibrinopeptide A concentration.
However, the mean beta-thromboglobulin concentration was not significantly different
from that of the healthy individuals (35.4 ng/ml) and only three patients had an increased
beta-thromboglobulin concentration.
Our data show that patients with major bacterial infections tend to have increased
fibrinopeptide A and normal beta-thromboglobulin concentrations. Consequently, the
measuring of plasma fibrinopeptide A concentration is useless for the diagnosis of
acute venous thromboembolism in these patients. However, the determination of plasma
beta-thromboglobulin concentration can still be used for this purpose, since a normal
beta-thrombo-globulin concentration excludes the presence of acute venous thrombosis.
Keywords
Fibrinopeptide A - Beta-thromboglobulin - Bacterial infection
