The measurement of serum fibrinogen levels in patients with acute coronary syndrome.

OBJECTIVE Serum fibrinogen level (SFL) is thought to be one of the risk factors for coronary artery disease (CAD). The purpose of this study was to measure the SFL in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). METHODS This study was performed in patients with ACS, admitted in Shahid Beheshti Hospital, Babol, Iran, from February 2005 to June 2006. Two hundred patients with ACS were divided into 4 groups: Group I - ST elevated myocardial infarction (STEMI); Group II - non-ST elevated myocardial infarction (NSTEMI); Group III - unstable angina (U/A) with ST-T change; and Group IV - U/A without ST-T change. Each group includes 50 patients. Twenty-four hours after admission, the SFL was measured using chromatography methods. The data were collected and analyzed. RESULTS The mean SFL per mg/dl in each group are: Group I - 377.8 +/- 28, Group II - 417.2 +/- 26.8, Group III - 335.4 +/- 19.8, and Group IV - 305.1 +/- 13.8. The SFL in Group II was significantly higher than the other groups (p=0.002). The SFL in Group II was higher than in Group III (p=0.02), and much higher than in Group IV (p=0.000). The SFL in Group III was more than in Group IV (p=0.018). CONCLUSION The results show that SFL is an important marker in patients with ACS, with ST-T change.