Abstract
Plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 (PAI-1), tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA), fibrinogen and insulin were measured in 43 patients 3 years after they had undergone the Magenstrasse and Mill (MM) procedure and in 43 morbidly obese (MO) patients. Mean plasma PAI-1 was 61 ng/ml in the MO group compared to 30 ng/ml in the MM group (p < 0.0001); mean plasma t-PA was 10 ng/ml in the MO group compared to 7 ng/ml in the MM group (p < 0.001). Mean fibrinogen was 3.6 g/l in the MO group compared to 3.2 g/l in the MM group (p < 0.05). Mean plasma insulin levels were 32 U/ml in the MO group compared to 15 U/ml in the MM group. These changes suggest that use of the MM procedure may reduce mortality and morbidity from coronary heart disease in these high-risk obese patients.