Clinical significance of determination of changes of plasma calcium genetic related peptide (CGRP) levels during thrombolytic therapy in patients with acute axillary venous thrombosis

Objective: To investigate the clinical significance of plasma CGRP levels determination during thrombolytic therapy in patients with acute axillary venous thrombosis. Methods: Plasma CGRP levels were determined with RIA in 30 patients with acute axillary venous thrombosis, 30 patients with chronic axillary venous thrombosis and 30 controls. In the acute patients, plasma CGRP levels were dynamically measured before the therapy and 6h, ld, 3d, 7d, 30d after start of the therapy. Results: Before treatment, plasma CGRP levels in the acute patients were significantly higher than those in chronic patients and controls (86.70 ± 11.02pg/ml vs 57.68 ± 14.95pg/ml and 55.71 ± 9.59pg/ml, P<0.01). After starting the therapy, the plasma CGRP began to rise further at 6h and reached peak value on the 3rd day when improvement was most marked. Conclusion: Plasma CGRP level determination is helpful for judgement of the efficacy of thrombolytic therapy. (authors)