Fibrinolysis at Rest and after Exercise in Hepatic Cirrhosis

S ummary . A study of the fibrinolytic enzyme system in 37 cirrhotic patients at rest and 15 cirrhotic patients following a treadmill exercise procedure is reported. An outstanding feature of the resting studies was a significant elevation in the levels of plasma plasminogen activator and serum fibrin/fibrinogen degradation products, when compared to age and sex-matched healthy controls. Moreover, there was a significant positive correlation between those two fibrinolytic parameters. No significant difference was demonstrated between the control and cirrhotic groups in relation to plasma fibrinogen, euglobulin plasminogen and plasma urokinase inhibitor activity. The exercise studies showed that following an entirely physiological stimulus the plasminogen activator response in some cirrhotics was excessive in terms of either the initial response and/or prolongation of the recovery period. However, an exaggerated initial response was not necessarily followed by a prolongation recovery period nor was a relationship established between the resting levels of plasminogen and an abnormal exercise response. Furthermore, there was no correlation between the increases in plasminogen activator and serum fibrin/ fibrinogen degradation products following exercise.