Patients with
peripheral artery disease (PAD) have shown the increased risk of cardiovascular (CV) morbidity and mortality. This study sought to evaluate the impact of clot strength on prevalence and major adverse CV events (
MACE) of PAD in high-risk patients. We enrolled patients undergoing
percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) (n = 1667) with available platelet-
fibrin clot strength [
thrombin-induced maximal amplitude (MAthrombin) measured by thromboelastography] and
inflammation [
high sensitivity C-reactive protein (
hs-CRP)]. PAD was defined with abnormal ankle-brachial index (≤ 0.9 or > 1.4).
MACE was defined as a composite of CV death,
myocardial infarction or
stroke. PAD was observed in 201 patients (12.1%). In the multivariate analysis, high clot strength [MAthrombin ≥ 68 mm: odds ratio (OR) 1.70, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.20 to 2.41, p = 0.003] and enhanced
inflammation (hs-CRP ≥ 3.0 mg/L: OR 2.30, 95% CI 1.56 to 3.41, p < 0.001) were associated with PAD occurrence. During the follow-up post-PCI (median, 25 months),
MACE was more frequently occurred in patients with vs. without PAD (18.7% vs. 6.4% at 3 years; hazard ratio 1.72, 95% CI 1.03 to 2.87, p = 0.039). Furthermore, combined presence of PAD and high clot strength significantly increased the risk of
MACE. In conclusion, this study is the first to show the impact of clot strength on prevalence and clinical outcomes of PAD in
coronary artery disease patients undergoing PCI. Whether antithrombotic strategy according to level of this
biomarker can improve clinical outcomes in PAD patients deserves the further study.