High-altitude (HA) hypoxia exposure is believed to induce venous thromboembolism (VTE) in otherwise healthy individuals, although this needs to be fully established. The present study aims to ascertain the role of HA exposure in aggravating any predisposition toward VTE and to explore whether the etiology of HA-induced VTE is different from that of VTE closer to sea level. We compared manifestation-matched male VTE patients from HA (HAPs) and VTE patients from the plains closer to sea level (SLPs) for 54 parameters, including coagulation-related, fibrinolytic, and thrombophilic variables, as well as markers for stress and inflammatory response and platelet and endothelial activation. Our results established an association between HA hypoxia and VTE in alterations of primarily hemostatic variables. Approximately 96% of HAPs presented with ≥10 altered parameters out of 54 studied compared with 7% of SLPs. Elevated platelet count, von Willebrand factor, and clotting factors and altered coagulation exhibited significant associations with VTE events and altitude exposure (all P < .05). Additionally, most VTEs at HA were associated with younger age groups, unlike those on the plains. A receiver operator characteristic curve analysis revealed differences between HAPs and SLPs for CD40 ligand (area under the curve [AUC], 0.90; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.84-0.96]), P-selectin (0.79; 0.70-0.88), platelet factor-4 (0.90; 0.84-0.96), intracellular adhesion molecule-1 (0.86; 0.79-0.93), vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (0.97; 0.95-0.99), vascular endothelial growth factor (0.87; 0.8-0.94), FLT4 (0.94; 0.89-0.99), and Toll-like receptor-2 (0.98; 0.96-1.0) (all P < .05). In conclusion, this study suggests that HA exposure perturbs the molecules associated with vascular integrity and contributes to the early onset of VTE.
© 2019 by The American Society of Hematology.