Plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 confirms the diagnosis of hepatic veno-occlusive disease in patients with hyperbilirubinemia after bone marrow transplantation

Abstract

Hepatic veno-occlusive disease (VOD) is a frequent and severe complication after bone marrow transplantation (BMT). We previously have described plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) as a possible marker of VOD. To confirm the significance of this finding, we now determined PAI-1 levels in 31 of 186 consecutive patients undergoing BMT who developed hyperbilirubinemia greater than 3 mg/dL for various reasons. Diagnoses were made by clinical criteria and confirmed by biopsy in 23 of 31 patients. They included VOD (n = 7), acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) of the liver (n = 7), and other hepatic injury (n = 17). PAI-1 (mean ± SD) was significantly (P