Comparison of ‘ 251 - Fibrinogen Kinetics and Fibrinopeptide A in Patients With Disseminated Neoplasias

To provide more information on the pathways of fibrinogen catabolism in generalized cancer. the effect of heparin on fibrinopeptide A (fpA) and on 1251-fibrinogen kinetics was studied in 1 5 patients with disseminated neoplasia. Three patients had evidence of venous thrombosis and in 2 additional patients a low fibrinogen level together with increased amounts of FDP/fdp and a positive ethanol test indicated disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC). The plasma levels of fpA were grossly elevated (4.6-20. mean 1 i .4 ng/ml. normal values 1 .Oi ± 0.45 ng/ml) in patients with thrombosis or DIC, and normal to grossly elevated (0.4-iO.4. mean 6.i ng/ml) in the other patients. Intravenous heparin bolus lowered the fpA level in i i I 1 i patients. and continuous heparin treatment led to an impressive suppression or complete normalization of the plasma fpA in 5/6 patients. This finding is thought to