• Michał Ząbczyk, Joanna Natorska, Agnieszka Janion-Sadowska, Agnieszka Metzgier-Gumiela, Mateusz Polak, Krzysztof Plens, Marianna Janion, Grzegorz Skonieczny, Katarzyna Mizia-Stec, and Anetta Undas.
• Institute of Cardiology, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Krakow, Poland.
• Eur. J. Clin. Invest. 2022 Jan 1; 52 (1): e13660.

BackgroundPost-pulmonary embolism (PE) syndrome occurs in up to 50% of PE patients. The pathophysiology of this syndrome is obscure.ObjectiveWe investigated whether enhanced oxidative stress and prothrombotic state may be involved in post-PE syndrome.MethodsWe studied 101 normotensive noncancer PE patients (aged 56.5 ± 13.9 years) on admission, after 5-7 days and after a 3-month anticoagulation, mostly with rivaroxaban. A marker of oxidative stress, 8-isoprostane, endogenous thrombin potential, fibrinolysis proteins, clot lysis time (CLT) and fibrin clot permeability (Ks ), along with PE biomarkers, were determined.ResultsPatients who developed the post-PE syndrome (n = 31, 30.7%) had at baseline 77.6% higher N-terminal brain natriuretic propeptide and 46.8% higher growth differentiation factor 15, along with 14.1% longer CLT associated with 34.4% higher plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 as compared to subjects without post-PE syndrome (all P < .05). After 5-7 days, only hypofibrinolysis was noted in post-PE syndrome patients. When measured at 3 months, prolonged CLT and reduced Ks were observed in post-PE syndrome patients, accompanied by 23.8% higher growth differentiation factor 15 and 35.8% higher plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (all P < .05). 8-isoprostane levels ≥108 pg/ml (odds ratio=4.36; 95% confidence interval 1.63-12.27) and growth differentiation factor 15 ≥ 1529 pg/ml (odds ratio=3.89; 95% confidence interval 1.29-12.16) measured at 3 months were associated with higher risk of developing post-PE syndrome.ConclusionsEnhanced oxidative stress and prothrombotic fibrin clot properties could be involved in the pathogenesis of the post-PE syndrome. Elevated growth differentiation factor 15 assessed at 3 months might be a new biomarker of this syndrome.© 2021 Stichting European Society for Clinical Investigation Journal Foundation. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

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