Increased levels of plasma thrombomodulin are associated with vascular and all-cause mortality in patients on long-term anticoagulant treatment

Abstract

Background. The aim of the study was to test if plasma levels of thrombomodulin could predict mortality in 209 patients on long-term anticoagulant treatment followed up for 3.8 years. Methods and Results. The thrombomodulin level was 60.9 ± 29.8 μg.l-1 for all 45 patients who died and 60.5 ± 30.5 μg.l-1 for the 38 vascular deaths, compared to 52.3 ± 20.7 μg.l-1 for the 164 survivors. We found that, in Cox regression analyses, all-cause (P = 0.025) and vascular mortality (P = 0.042) was significantly and independently associated with increased levels of thrombomodulin. Conclusions. The level of plasma thrombomodulin can predict all-cause and vascular mortality in patients on long-term anticoagulant treatment.