Fibrinolytic activity and clotting factors in ischaemic heart disease in women

Abstract

Low fibrinolytic activity and raised levels of clotting factors have been linked with increased incidence of ischaemic heart disease in men.1 2 3 Information in women, however, is confined to a relation of high fibrinogen concentrations with ischaemic heart disease in the Framingham study.3 This report describes the possible association of low fibrinolytic activity with fatal ischaemic heart disease in women. The Northwick Park heart study included 695 women aged 40-64 at entry in 1972-8. The methods and assessment of deaths attributed to ischaemic heart disease were as described for the men.1 By the end of 1994, 74 women had died: 19 from ischaemic heart disease, 16 from other cardiovascular diseases, 28 from cancer, and 11 from other causes. Fibrinolytic activity is …