Diagnostic value of placental growth factor in patients with coronary heart disease

Abstract

Objective: to study the diagnostic value of placental growth factor (PlGF) in patients with coronary heart disease (CHD). Subjects and methods. 151 patients (75 men and 76 women; mean age 58.9 ± 12.3 years), including 66 patients with exercise-induced stable angina, 32 with unstable angina, 32 with myocardial infarction, and 21 with no clinical signs of CHD), were followed up. Blood PlGF levels were measured in all the examinees; C-reactive protein (CRP) concentrations were also determined using a high-sensitivity method in the patients with CHD. Results. In the patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS), the levels of PlGF were significantly higher than in those with exercise-induced stable angina and in healthy individuals (17.3 ± 11.4 versus 11.2 ± 7.3 and 8.8 ± 6.7 pg/ml; p < 0.001). Estimation of the diagnostic value of the determination of PlGF levels in the diagnosis of ACS in troponin-negative examinees revealed that the area under the ROC curve (AUC) was 0.76. The quality of a diagnostic model using CRP was inferior to that with PlGF (n = 45; AUC for PlGF = 0.79; that for CRP = 0.65). Conclusion. The elevated level of PlGF may be considered as a diagnostic marker for ACS, including in the absence of the higher levels of cardiac troponins.