Evidence for an enhanced procoagulant state in remitted major depression

Hypercoagulability is one mechanism to explain the increased risk of incident atherothrombotic disease in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD). We examined whether patients with remitted MDD show an enhanced procoagulant state.63 individuals (median age 35 years, 59% women), 40 with a DSM-IV diagnosis of remitted MDD, made by a clinical interview, and 23 healthy controls provided blood samples for the measurement of fibrinogen, D-dimer, von Willebrand factor, and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1. StandardisedCompared with controls, remitted MDD patients had higher PCI (Remitted MDD is associated with an enhanced procoagulant state. Hypercoagulability seems more a trait than a state characteristic of depression.