Changes in coagulation indices and -dimer levels in hypertriglyceridemic acute pancreatitis and their value in predicting disease severity.

Objectives: Hypertriglyceridemic acute pancreatitis (HTG-AP) is one of the common acute and severe cases of digestive system. Incidence of HTG-AP is increasing year by year, and there is a trend of younger and severe cases. Early identification of severe patients and timely intervention are conducive to improve the prognosis. Dysfunction of coagulation and fibrinolysis systems plays an important role in the development of HTG-AP. Prothrombin time (PT) and activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) are sensitive indicators of exogenous and endogenous coagulation system, respectively. Fibrinogen (FIB) is an acute reactive protein with coagulation function. -dimer is a sensitive index to judge the abnormality of coagulation and fibrinolysis system. This study aims to investigate the changes of coagulation parameters and -dimer level in patients with HTG-AP and their value in predicting the severity of the disease.

Methods: The clinical data of 189 HTG-AP patients admitted to Jiangjin Hospital Affiliated to Chongqing University (Jiangjin District Central Hospital of Chongqing) from January 2019 to December 2020 were collected, including gender, age, medical history, complications, causes, and acute physiology and chronic health evaluation II (APACHE II) scores. According to the severity of the disease, the patients were divided into a mild HTG-AP group and a severe HTG-AP group. The changes of coagulation indexes (PT, APTT and FIB), -dimer and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels were detected. Coagulation indexes, -dimer level and disease severity (CRP level, APACHE II scores) were compared between the 2 groups. Spearman correlation analysis was used to analyze the correlation between the above indexes. Univariate and multivariate binary logistic regression analysis were used to identify the independent risk factors for severe HTG-AP. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and area under the curve (AUC) were used to analyze the predictive value of PT, FIB, and -dimer for the severity of HTG-AP.

Results: There were significant differences in gender between the mild HTG-AP group and the severe HTG-AP group (<0.05). There was no significant difference in age, recurrence rate and incidence of complications between the 2 groups (all >0.05). The basic conditions of the 2 groups were similar and comparable. PT, FIB and -dimer levels in the severe HTG-AP group were significantly higher than those in the mild HTG-AP group (all <0.001). There was no significant difference in APTT between the 2 groups (>0.05). The CRP level and APACHE II scores in the severe HTG-AP group were significantly higher than those in the mild HTG-AP group (all <0.05). Spearman correlation analysis showed that PT, FIB and -dimer were positively correlated with CRP and APACHE II scores (all <0.05), while APTT was not correlated with CRP and APACHE II scores (all >0.05). Logistic regression analysis showed that prolonged PT and elevated -dimer level were independent risk factors for severe HTG-AP (both <0.05). ROC curve analysis showed that the AUC of PT for predicting severe HTG-AP was 0.764 (95% 0.690 to 0.837, <0.001), when PT>14.40 s, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value were 63.07%, 79.03%, 59.42%, and 80.00%, respectively. TheAUC of FIB for predicting severe HTG-AP was 0.669 (95% 0.588 to 0.751, <0.001), when FIB>4.18 g/L, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value were 61.53%, 70.17%, 49.38%, and 76.85%, respectively. The AUC of -dimer for predicting severe HTG-AP was 0.753 (95% 0.680 to 0.826, <0.001), when -dimer>1.28 μg/mL, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value were 73.84%, 66.12%, 53.33%, and 82.82%, respectively. The AUC of PT combined with -dimer for predicting severe HTG-AP was 0.797.

Conclusions: There are abnormalities in coagulation and fibrinolytic system in patients with HTG-AP in the early stage. PT, FIB and -dimer levels are increased with the aggravation of the AP, and have a positively correlation with it. Elevated PT and -dimer level are independent risk factors for severe HTG-AP. PT combined with -dimer may be a sensitive indicator for prediction of the severity of HTG-AP in early phase.