Does coagulability of blood influence the prognosis of apparently healthy subjects with age 80 after 5 years?

Abstract

Concentrations of fibrinogen, plasminogen, antithrombin III and α₂-macroglobulin in plasma were determined in subjects with age 80 who were apparent healthy and lived in urban in 1978. The similar coagulation analysis were carried out again in 17 subjects among these subjects in 1983. There were statistically significant correlations between all parameters at the interval of 5 years in the same subjects, although the levels of fibrinogen and α₂-macroglobulin tended to increase whereas the concentration of plasminogen and antithrombin III decreased with ageing. The differences of all these parameters determined in 1978 and in 1983 were statistically significant. However, there were no statistically significant differences in the levels of these parameters measured in 1978 between in the subjects who survived in 1983 and ones who expired before 1983. From these results, it is concluded that apparently healthy subjects aged 80 become more thrombotic after 5 years, and that there is some “individuality” in patterns of the parameters related to blood coagulation. However, there were no evidences to suggest that hypercoagulability affected disadvantageously the prognosis of apparently healty subjects with age 80.