Hemostatic factors, inflammatory markers, and risk of incident venous thromboembolism: The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis

Abstract

Background: Several hemostatic factors and inflammatory markers are associated with the risk of incident venous thromboembolism (VTE), however, most existing data are from case-control studies in Caucasian populations. Objectives: We aimed to prospectively confirm previous findings and explore less studied biomarkers in relation to VTE risk in a multi-racial/multi-ethnic cohort. Methods: Circulating levels of factor VIII, fibrinogen, D-dimer, plasmin-antiplasmin complex (PAP), C-reactive protein (CRP), and interleukin-6 (IL-6) were measured at baseline (2000–2002) in 6706 participants of the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis. Incident VTE was identified using hospitalization discharge codes from baseline to December 31, 2015. Hazard ratios (HRs) of VTE were estimated in Cox regression models. Results: There were 227 events during a median of 14 years of follow-up. Compared with participants in the lowest quartile, the HRs for those above the 95th percentile and p for trend across categories were 3.50 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.98–6.19; p