Hemostatic proteins and their association with hematoma growth in patients with acute intracerebral hemorrhage.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE We tested the hypothesis that proteins of hemostasia could be associated with hematoma growth (HG) in patients with acute intracerebral hemorrhage. METHODS We prospectively studied patients with spontaneous supratentorial intracerebral hemorrhage within the first 6 hours after the onset of symptoms. HG was defined as an increase > 33% in the volume of hematoma on CT obtained 24 to 72 hours after the onset of symptoms in comparison with the CT obtained at admission. We collected admission and follow-up blood samples. We measured fibrinogen, factor XIII, thrombin activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor, plasminogen activator inhibitor, plasminogen, α₂-antiplasmin, tissue plasminogen activator, d-dimer, thrombomodulin, thrombin-antithrombin complex, and plasmin-antiplasmin complex. RESULTS We included 90 patients with a mean age of 71 ± 10.8 years; 61% were men. HG was observed in 35 (39%) of the patients. Mean baseline and follow-up protein measurements showed no difference between the groups with and without HG. The analysis of variance showed that factor XIII activity decreased in the non-HG group in the 24 to 72 hours sample, whereas it increased in the HG group (P = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS Factor XIII was the only measured protein related to HG. The levels at the follow-up sample decreased in the non-HG group and increased in the HG group. Further studies are needed to confirm this association.