Abstract

To investigate whether fibrinogen levels are a valuable biomarker for assessing disease severity and monitoring disease progression in patients with diabetic foot ulcers. A retrospective study was designed to investigate the usefulness of fibrinogen in assessing disease severity in her DFU patients who were admitted to our hospital between January 2015 and January 2016. A total of 152 her DFU patients were included in the study group, 52 were age- and sex-matched diabetic patients, but DFU was not included as a control group. DFU severity was assessed using the Wagner criteria. Patients with DFU were divided into two subgroups based on Wagner criteria. Mean fibrinogen levels were significantly higher in her DFU grade ≧3 patients than in those with DFU grades 1-2. Using ROC statistics, a cutoff value of 5.13 g/L indicated a cleavage potential with a sensitivity of 81.8% and a specificity of negative predictive value of 78.9%. Fibrinogen levels were found to correlate with CRP levels, neutrophils, and WBC counts. Fibrinogen levels may be a valuable tool for assessing disease severity and monitoring disease progression in DFU patients.