No early signs of atherosclerotic alterations in carriers of inherited thrombophilia

Abstract

Background Congenital thrombophilia is a risk factor for venous thromboembolism (VTE). Whether it is associated with increased risk of arterial disease is today a matter of debate. We aimed to look for early signs of atherosclerotic alterations in carriers of inherited thrombophilic alterations (ITA). Methods Between January 2006 and September 2008 ultrasonography assessment of the carotid arteries with measurement of intima-media thickness (IMT), and determination of the ankle/brachial pressure index (ABI), was performed in: a) 161 carriers of ITA (deficiency of antithrombin, protein C or S, factor V Leiden or prothrombin G20210A mutations), 84 of whom with previous VTE, and b) 180 subjects without ITA, matched for age, sex and previous VTE. All subjects were < 66 year old. Results Carotid plaques were found in 8 subjects [3 (1.9%) with ITA]. Increased IMT values (> 1 mm) were detected in 6 subjects with and 1 without thrombophilia (p = 0.055). The prevalence of IMT values > 90 th percentile was not different in subjects with/without thrombophilia (15.2% vs 11.6%, p = 0.416). At multivariate analysis only age was significantly associated with increased odds ratios for IMT values > 90 th percentile. No subjects had abnormal (< 0.9) ABI values. Conclusions The present study, the first to investigate the presence of atherosclerotic markers in relatively young subjects with inherited thrombophilia, did not find a particular prevalence of signs of early atherosclerotic markers in these subjects.