Fibrinogen is the major coagulation protein in blood by mass, the precursor of fibrin, and an important determinant of blood viscosity and platelet aggregation. The Fibrinogen Studies Collaboration (FSC) aimed to characterize more precisely the age- and sex-specific associations of plasma fibrinogen levels with risk of coronary heart disease, other vascular diseases, and cause-specific mortality by meta-analysis of individual participant data (IPD). Synthesis of the available prospective studies of plasma fibrinogen yielded information on each of 154,211 participants in 31 prospective studies.
. During approximately 1.38 million person-years of follow-up, there were 6944 first nonfatal myocardial infarctions or stroke events and 13,210 deaths, with moderately strong associations found between usual plasma fibrinogen level and the risks of CHD, stroke, other vascular mortality, and nonvascular mortality in a wide range of circumstances in healthy middle-aged adults. These and other findings have now been published, including a number of methodological papers.
Papers (in descending order of publication date)
Systematically missing confounders
Systematically missing confounders in individual participant data meta-analysis of observational cohort studies.
Stat Med. 2009 Apr 15;28(8):1218-37. [PubMed]
Multivariate measurement error in meta-analysis
Correcting for multivariate measurement error by regression calibration in meta-analyses of epidemiological studies.
Stat Med. 2009 Mar 30;28(7):1067-92. [PubMed]
Risk prediction measures for survival data
Measures to assess the prognostic ability of the stratified Cox proportional hazards model.
Stat Med. 2009 Feb 1;28(3):389-411. [PubMed]
Correlates of plasma fibrinogen
Associations of plasma fibrinogen levels with established cardiovascular disease risk factors, inflammatory markers, and other characteristics: individual participant meta-analysis of 154,211 adults in 31 prospective studies: the fibrinogen studies collaboration.
Am J Epidemiol. 2007 Oct 15;166(8):867-79. [PubMed]
Regression dilution methods for meta-analysis
Regression dilution methods for meta-analysis: assessing long-term variability in plasma fibrinogen among 27,247 adults in 15 prospective studies.
Int J Epidemiol. 2006 Dec;35(6):1570-8. [PubMed]
Plasma fibrinogen and outcomes
Plasma fibrinogen level and the risk of major cardiovascular diseases and nonvascular mortality: an individual participant meta-analysis.
JAMA. 2005 Oct 12;294(14):1799-809. [PubMed]
FSC protocol paper
Collaborative meta-analysis of prospective studies of plasma fibrinogen and cardiovascular disease.
Eur J Cardiovasc Prev Rehabil. 2004 Feb;11(1):9-17. [PubMed]