• Shao-Sung Huang, Po-Hsun Huang, Ying-Hwa Chen, Shih-Hsien Sung, Kuang-Hsing Chiang, Jaw-Wen Chen, and Shing-Jong Lin.
• Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Cardiology, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
• Coron. Artery Dis. 2008 Dec 1; 19 (8): 597-602.

ObjectivesThis study tested the hypothesis that plasma heparin cofactor II (HCII) activity independently predicts cardiovascular events in patients after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and attempted to elucidate the role of HCII in atherothrombosis.BackgroundHCII inhibits thrombin activity by binding to dermatan sulfate and has been shown to be a novel and independent risk factor for atherosclerosis. However, there is limited data on the relation between plasma levels of HCII after AMI and future cardiovascular events.MethodsA total of 110 consecutive patients (aged 63+/-11 years) with AMI were followed up for 42+/-12 months. Plasma HCII activity was determined from blood samples collected immediately after hospitalization. The primary end point was the combined occurrence of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), including rehospitalization because of unstable angina, nonfatal MI, revascularization with either percutaneous coronary intervention or coronary artery bypass grafting, ischemic stroke, and cardiovascular death.ResultsAll patients were divided into three groups: a high-HCII group (>122%, n=35), a normal-HCII group (>98% and ConclusionThe results indicate a potential association between plasma HCII activity and future cardiovascular events after AMI. Moreover, HCII activity seems to play a pivotal role in atherothrombosis.

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