Background: Atherosclerosis is known to result in individuals with arterial stenosis or occlusion. Alternatively, certain atherosclerotic arteries develop aneurysms. However, there has been no clear explanation regarding the mechanism associated with this alternate clinical presentation. This study aimed to investigate the clinical and hematologic factors that could lead to the development of the different clinical outcomes of stenosis and aneurysm in atherosclerotic arterial disease.
Methods: From March 2016 to January 2018, 219 consecutive atherosclerotic patients, of whom 195 (171 men, 24 women) had stenosis or occlusion and 24 (19 men, 5 women) had aneurysm, were investigated. All patients underwent vascular procedures. Continuous variables studied were age, body mass index, smoking status (pack-years), frequency of alcohol consumption (days), levels of natural anticoagulants (protein C, protein S, and antithrombin III), coagulation-enhancing factors (factor VIII, fibrinogen, and homocysteine), antiphospholipid antibodies (lupus anticoagulant, immunoglobulin [Ig] G/IgM anticardiolipin antibody, and IgG/IgM anti-beta 2 glycoprotein I [anti-β2GPI]), lipids (total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and triglyceride), and hemoglobin A1c. The investigated nominal variables were sex, diabetes mellitus, and hypertension.
Results: A logistic regression analysis of all nominal and continuous variables as independent variables revealed that IgM anticardiolipin antibody was a significant independent factor associated with aneurysm formation in atherosclerotic arterial disease (P = 0.042).
Conclusions: A higher IgM anticardiolipin antibody level may be one of the causative factors behind aneurysm development and may have the clinical potential to be used as a biomarker to predict the development of aneurysms in atherosclerotic arterial disease.
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