The Relationship between ICH and Plasma VEGF in Patients with Congenital Factor XIII Deficiency

Congenital factor XIII deficiency is an autosomal recessive rare bleeding disorder. Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is a main cause of mortality and morbidity that occurs in up to one-third of FXIII deficient patients. The mechanisms of ICH are not well understood. In this study, the relationship of ICH was investigated with plasma VEGF level in FXIII deficient patients.
Methods and Materials: This study was conducted on 30 FXIII-deficient patients including 15 patients with ICH as case and 15 patients without ICH as control group. Patients with positive family history of FXIII deficiency, abnormal clot solubility test, as well as abnormal CT scan results were participated in the present study. The concentration of plasma VEGF was measured by Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Data analysis was performed by SPSS software.
There were no significant differences in terms of gender or age between the two groups. Twelve and two patients had history of one and two times bleedings, respectively, and only one patient had three times bleeding in his medical history. Intraparenchymal was the most common site of ICH and the others had subdural and epidural hemorrhages, respectively. Concentration of plasma VEGF was higher in case than control group; however, this difference was not statistically significant.
Discussion and This study demonstrated that there were no relationship between ICH occurrence and plasma VEGF levels in congenital factor XIII deficiency. In another words, other factors, besides FXIII deficiency, may contribute in ICH occurrence in these patients.