Haematologica 2004;89: supplement no. 8 - Supplements ...

164Postersative salvage and re-infusion of shed blood. The followup of GLORY patients will provide informationsabout the correlation between the use of re-infusionprocedure and occurrence of VTE complications.PO-137THE FIRST AMBULATORY SCREENING ON THROMBOEMBOLISM(FAST) STUDY: A MULTICENTRE, CROSS-SECTIONAL,OBSERVATIONAL STUDY ON THROMBOEMBOLIC RISK FACTORSDi Minno G,* Tufano A,* Palareti G,° Moia M,^Giudici GA,** Baccaglini U,^^ Mannucci PM^ onBehalf Of The FAST Study*Centro di Riferimento Regionale per leemocoagulopatie. II Policlinico Di Napoli. UniversitàFederico II, Napoli.°Dipartimento di Angiologia, UniversityHospital S. Orsola Malpighi, Bologna. ^AngeloBianchi Bonomi Hemophilia and thrombosis Center,Dip. Medicina Interna IRCCS Osp. MaggioreMilano and University of Milan. **Sanofi-Synthelabo.^^OspedaleBusonera, Padova, ItalyDesign: multicentre, cross-sectional, observationalstudy. Objectives: to assess the prevalence of riskfactors for venous thromboembolism (VTE) and theprevalence of recent VTE (within 1 year) in subjectswho consulted their General Practitioner (GP) for ahealth disorder. Setting: 1,536 GP surgeries. Participants:15,180 adult, co-operative subjects, who consultedtheir GP for a health disorder and signed theinformed consent form. Main outcome measures:prevalence of known thromboembolic risk factors,graded according to importance (strong, moderate,weak risk factors), and of recent VTE events (within1 year), based on interviews. Results: about 1:5patients had at least one strong risk factor for VTEand about 1:20 had at least two, with no differencebetween sexes; their prevalence increased with age.Most were related to medical conditions: history ofsuperficial venous thrombosis (VT) and/or deepvenous thrombosis (DVT)/pulmonary embolism, heartfailure and malignancy. About 3:4 women and 2:3men had at least one moderate to weak risk factor;nearly 1:2 women and 1:3 men had at least two. Themost common were history of VTE, smoking, historyof miscarriage, oestrogen therapy, obesity and varicoseveins. Overall, 80% women and 67% men hadat least one risk factor and 50% women and 35%men had at least two risk factors. The prevalence ofrecent VTE was 3.4% in women and 2.4% in men,and increased with age. The majority of cases weresuperficial VT, in both sexes (2.5% in women, and1.5% in men). Conclusions: the prevalence of riskfactors for VTE in patients attending GP surgeries ishigh. GPs should bear this in mind during their dailypractice.PO-138LOW PLASMA LEVELS OF PYRIDOXAL-5’-PHOSPHATE ARE ARISK FACTOR FOR RECURRENT VENOUS THROMBOEMBOLISMCattaneo M, 1,2 Kyrle PA, 3 Lombardi R, 2Weltermann A, 3 Lecchi A, 2 Eichinger S 31Hematology and Thrombosis Unit, Ospedale SanPaolo, Dept. of Medicine, Surgery and Dentistry,and, 2 A.Bianchi Bonomi Hemophilia and ThrombosisCenter, IRCCS Ospedale Maggiore, University ofMilano, Italy; 3 Dept. of Internal Medicine I,Division of Hematology/Hemostasis, University ofVienna, AustriaIn a case-control study, we showed that low plasmalevels of pyridoxal-5’-phosphate (PLP), the coenzymeform of vitamin B6, are associated with aheightened risk for venous thromboembolism (VTE).This association was independent of known risk factorsfor VTE, including high plasma levels of homocysteine,which is under the metabolic control of Bvitamins, including vitamin B6. In a prospective,cohort study, we investigated whether or not lowplasma levels of PLP are associated with a heightenedrisk for recurrent VTE. 766 patients with a singleepisode of VTE were prospectively followed for37±31 (mean±SD) months after discontinuation oforal anticoagulants (OA). The outcome events studiedwere deep-vein thrombosis (DVT) and/or pulmonaryembolism (PE). Testing for known thromboticrisk factors was performed 3 weeks after discontinuationof OA. PLP was measured by the tyrosinedecarboxylase method in the same EDTA-anticoagulatedplasma samples that were used for totalhomocysteine measurement 6+9 months after discontinuationof OA. Recurrent VTE occurred in 98patients. The mean plasma levels of PLP were56.3±59 nmol/L in patients with recurrences and64.4±72.3 in patients without recurrences (P=0.1).VTE recurrences were observed in 22/117 patientswith plasma levels of PLP that were lower than the15th percentile and in 76/649 patients with plasmaPLP levels higher than the 15th percentile. The cumulativeprobability of VTE recurrence was 26% (95%CI: 16-37%) in patients with low PLP levels and 17%(13-21%; p =0.05) in those with normal PLP levels.The crude relative risk of recurrent VTE in patientswith low PLP levels was 1.60 (0.99-2.57) andremained practically unmodified after adjustmentfor VTE risk factors, including hyperhomocysteinemia:1.5 (0.92-2.5). Therefore, low plasma levels ofPLP are associated with a heightened risk for recurrentVTE, independently of other VTE risk factors,including hyperhomocysteinemia.haematologica vol. 89(suppl. n. 8):september 2004