Thrombin Activatable Fibrinolysis Inhibitor (TAFI) Activity In Patients with Isolated Coronary Artery Ectasia

Thrombin activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor (TAFI) forms the molecular link between the coagulation and the fibrinolytic systems with a strong anti-fibrinolytic activity. Isolated coronary artery ectasia (CAE) is a clinical entity characterized by localized or diffuse dilatation greater than 1.5 times diameter of adjacent segments, of coronary arteries, without concomitant stenosis. Previous studies demonstrated increased frequency of acute coronary events in patients with isolated CAE compared to patients with normal coronary arteries (NCA). The goal of the present study was to investigate whether TAFI activity is increased in patients with isolated CAE compared to normal subjects. Thirty patients with isolated CAE, 30 age- and gender-matched control participants with NCA, were included in the study. There was no difference in TAFI activity between CAE and NCA groups (130±42% vs. 124±35%, p=NS). The findings of the current study indicate that TAFI activity is not associated with CAE. To our knowledge, this is the first report investigating the relation of CAE with TAFI activity. We believe that further studies are required to define the precise role of TAFI in patients with isolated CAE. Key words: Coronary artery ectasia, thrombin activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor, coronary angiography,TAFI activity. Ozet Trombin ile aktive olan fibrinoliz inhibitoru (TAFI) guclu bir antifibrinolitik aktivite ile koagulasyon ile fibrinolitik sistem arasindaki molekuler baglantiyi olusturur. Izole koroner arter ektazisi (KAE) birlikte koroner arter hastaliginin yoklugunda koroner arterlerin komsu segmentlerine gore 1.5 kattan fazla lokalize ya da duffuz genisleme ile karakterize bir klinik bulgudur. Daha onceki calismalar normal koroner arterli (NKA) bireyler ile karsilastirildiginda izole KAE’li hastalarda akut koroner olaylarin sikliginda bir artisi ortaya koydu. Bu calismanin amaci NKA ile karsilastirildiginda izole KAE’li hastalarda TAFI aktivitesinde artis olup olmadigini arastirmakti. Bu calismaya izole KAE’li 30 hasta ile yas ve cinsiyet uyumlu NKA’li 30 kisi (kontrol grubu) alindi. KAE ve NKA gruplari arasinda TAFI aktivitesinde anlamli bir fark izlenmedi (%130±42 ve %124±35, p=AD). Bu calismanin bulgulari TAFI aktivitesinin CAE ile iliskili olmadigini gostermektedir. Bilgilerimize gore bu calisma TAFI aktivitesi ile CAE’nin iliskisini arastiran ilk yayindir. Daha ileri calismalarin izole KAE’li hastalarda TAFI’nin kesin rolunu tanimlamada gerekli olduguna inaniyoruz. Anahtar kelimeler: Koroner arter ektazisi, trombin ile aktive olan fibrinoliz inhibitoru, koroner anjiyografi, TAFI aktivitesi.