Value of serum fibrinogen levels in the assessment of mechanical prosthetic valve thrombosis.

The evaluation of prosthetic valve thrombosis (PVT) is crucial due to higher mortality and morbidity rates. The study aim was to assess the value of fibrinogen in the diagnosis of PVT, an important and a common cause of prosthetic valve failure. Between December 2007 and April 2012, 154 patients with PVT and 116 control subjects with a normally functioning prosthesis were enrolled in the study. PVT was diagnosed using transesophageal echocardiography, and fibrinogen levels were measured at presentation. The patients and controls had similar demographic features. NYHA functional class, ineffective anticoagulation, presence of symptoms and moderate to severe left atrial spontaneous echo contrast (LASEC) were significantly different between the groups. The fibrinogen level was significantly higher in patients with PVT compared to controls (393.46 +/- 127.87 versus 276.93 +/- 69.22 mg/dl, p < 0.001). Ineffective anticoagulation, the presence of symptoms, a poor NYHA functional class, the presence of moderate to severe LASEC and elevated fibrinogen levels were independent predictors of PVT on multivariate regression analysis (p < 0.001, odds ratio (OR) 38.811, 95% confidence interval (CI): 13.319-113.091; p < 0.001, OR 6.745, CI: 2.777-16.386; p = 0.031, OR 3.557, CI: 1.126-11.239; p = 0.026, OR 3.203, CI: 1.146-8.955, and p < 0.001, OR 1.011, CI: 1.007-1.016 respectively). Besides known indicators of PVT, including ineffective anticoagulation, the presence of LASEC and decreased NYHA functional capacity, elevated fibrinogen levels may be a valuable marker for the assessment of PVT.