Table 1.
Clinical characteristics at baseline, according to liver enzymes and FIB-4 levels
| Liver enzymes | FIB-4 levels | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AST or ALT > 40 IU/L |
AST and ALT ≤ 40 IU/L |
> 2.67 | 1.3–2.67 | < 1.3 | |
| Patients, N | 1275 | 4931 | 816 | 2669 | 2721 |
| Liver enzymes | |||||
| AST (mean UI/L ± SD) | 53 ± 28‡ | 20 ± 7 | 44 ± 32‡ | 28 ± 17‡ | 21 ± 12 |
| ALT (mean UI/L ± SD) | 65 ± 33‡ | 19 ± 8 | 34 ± 31† | 28 ± 23 | 27 ± 23 |
| GGT (mean UI/L ± SD) | 98 ± 110‡ | 38 ± 45 | 59 ± 73† | 50 ± 64 | 49 ± 71 |
| AP (mean UI/L ± SD) | 101 ± 60‡ | 76 ± 37 | 88 ± 49† | 81 ± 44 | 81 ± 42 |
| FIB-4 index (mean ± SD) | 2.11 ± 1.55‡ | 1.52 ± 0.86 | 3.67 ± 1.21‡ | 1.84 ± 0.38‡ | 0.83 ± 0.29 |
| Demographics | |||||
| Age (mean years ± SD) | 61 ± 18‡ | 66 ± 18 | 78 ± 11‡ | 72 ± 13‡ | 54 ± 18 |
| Male sex | 720 (56%)‡ | 2339 (47%) | 390 (48%) | 1321 (49%) | 1348 (49%) |
| Body weight (kg ± SD) | 81 ± 18‡ | 77 ± 17 | 74 ± 16‡ | 77 ± 16† | 78 ± 18 |
| Body mass index (kg/m2 ± SD) | 28.8 ± 5.7‡ | 28.0 ± 5.6 | 28.0 ± 5.9 | 28.3 ± 5.4 | 28.0 ± 5.5 |
| Obese patients (BMI > 30) | 346 (35%) | 1125 (30%) | 172 (29%) | 668 (32%) | 631 (31%) |
| Initial VTE presentation | |||||
| Pulmonary embolism | 1060 (83%)‡ | 3895 (79%) | 692 (85%)‡ | 2211 (83%)‡ | 2052 (75%) |
| SBP levels < 100 mmHg | 89 (8.4%)‡ | 213 (5.5%) | 69 (10%)‡ | 127 (5.7%) | 138 (5.1%) |
| Heart rate > 100 bpm | 274 (26%)‡ | 796 (20%) | 194 (24%)‡ | 481 (18%) | 474 (17%) |
| Comorbidities | |||||
| Diabetes | 196 (15%) | 751 (15%) | 110 (14%)* | 393 (15%) | 444 (16%) |
| Chronic heart failure | 88 (6.9%) | 287 (5.8%) | 61 (7.5%)‡ | 162 (6.1%) | 152 (5.6%) |
| Chronic lung disease | 142 (11%) | 556 (11%) | 89 (11%) | 318 (12%) | 291 (11%) |
| CrCl levels < 30 mL/min | 132 (10%) | 575 (12%) | 151 (18%)‡ | 348 (13%)‡ | 208 (7.6%) |
| CrCl levels 30–60 ml/min | 383 (30%)‡ | 1,842 (37%) | 382 (47%)‡ | 1108 (41%)‡ | 735 (27%) |
| Prior ischemic stroke | 82 (6.4%)* | 269 (5.5%) | 42 (5.1%) | 142 (5.3%) | 167 (6.1%) |
| No comorbidities | 637 (50%) | 2319 (47%) | 489 (60%)‡ | 1549 (58%)‡ | 1165 (42%) |
| Risk factors for VTE | |||||
| Recent immobility | 324 (25%) | 1190 (24%) | 227 (28%)‡ | 676 (25%)‡ | 611 (22%) |
| Recent surgery | 129 (10%)* | 412 (8.4%) | 38 (4.7%)‡ | 177 (6.6%)† | 326 (12%) |
| Estrogen use | 54 (4.3%)* | 282 (5.7%) | 10 (1.2%)‡ | 36 (1.3%)‡ | 289 (11%) |
| Pregnancy/postpartum | 15 (1.2%) | 74 (1.5%) | 0‡ | 5 (0.2%)‡ | 84 (3.1%) |
| Recent travel | 51 (4.0%) | 164 (3.3%) | 14 (1.7%)‡ | 77 (2.9%)† | 124 (4.6%) |
| Unprovoked | 610 (48%) | 2,346 (48%) | 443 (54%)‡ | 1381 (52%)‡ | 1143 (42%) |
| Prior VTE | 173 (14%) | 795 (16%) | 124 (15%) | 451 (17%)† | 393 (14%) |
| Bleeding risk | |||||
| Prior peptic ulcer | 21 (1.6%) | 63 (1.3%) | 14 (1.7%) | 43 (1.6%)* | 27 (1.0%) |
| Recent major bleeding | 28 (2.2%) | 97 (2.0%) | 19 (2.3%) | 46 (1.7%) | 60 (2.2%) |
| Anemia | 291 (23%)‡ | 1,357 (27%) | 214 (26%) | 659 (25%)† | 775 (28%) |
| Platelet count/1000/mm3 | 232 ± 84 | 234 ± 82 | 165 ± 41‡ | 209 ± 53‡ | 277 ± 91 |
BMI was only recorded in 4723 patients
AST aspartate aminotransferase, ALT alanine aminotransferase, IU international units, FIB-4 Fibrosis liver index 4, SD standard deviation, GGT gamma-glutamyl transferase, AP Alkaline phosphatase, VTE venous thromboembolism, SBP systolic blood pressure, CrCl creatinine clearance
Comparisons between patients: *p < 0.05; †p < 0.01; ‡p < 0.001