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Linda Flinterman and colleagues report on the long-term mortality rate for individuals who have experienced a first venous thrombosis or pulmonary embolism. They describe an ongoing elevated risk of death for individuals who had experienced a venous thrombosis or pulmonary embolism as compared to controls, for up to eight years after the event.

Background

Venous thrombosis is a common disease with a high mortality rate shortly after the event. However, details on long-term mortality in these patients are lacking. The aim of this study was to determine long-term mortality in a large cohort of patients with venous thrombosis.

Methods and Findings

4,947 patients from the Multiple Environmental and Genetic Assessment study of risk factors for venous thrombosis (MEGA study) with a first nonfatal venous thrombosis or pulmonary embolism and 6,154 control individuals without venous thrombosis, aged 18 to 70 years, were followed up for 8 years. Death and causes of death were retrieved from the Dutch death registration. Standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) were calculated for patients compared with control individuals. Several subgroups were studied as well.

736 participants (601 patients and 135 controls) died over a follow-up of 54,948 person-years. The overall mortality rate was 22.7 per 1,000 person-years (95% CI 21.0–24.6) for patients and 4.7 per 1,000 person-years (95% CI 4.0–5.6) for controls. Patients with venous thrombosis had a 4.0-fold (95% CI 3.7–4.3) increased risk of death compared with controls. The risk remained increased up to 8 years after the thrombotic event, even when no additional comorbidities were present. The highest risk of death was found for patients with additional malignancies (SMR 5.5, 95% CI 5.0–6.1). Main causes of death were diseases of the circulatory system, venous thrombosis, and malignancies. Main limitation was a maximum age of 70 at time of inclusion for the first event. Therefore results can not be generalized to those in the highest age categories.

Conclusions

Patients who experienced a first venous thrombosis had an increased risk of death which lasted up to 8 years after the event, even when no comorbidities were present at time of thrombosis. Future long-term clinical follow-up could be beneficial in these patients.

Please see later in the article for the Editors' Summary

Editors' Summary

Background

The term venous thrombosis describes the clinical situation—more common during pregnancy, after surgery, or serious illness—in which a blood clot lodges in a vein. One specific type, which is more serious, involves the clot forming in a major vein in the lower leg and thigh and is termed a deep venous thrombosis. The clot can block blood flow and cause swelling and pain, but more seriously, can break off and move through the bloodstream, causing an embolism. An embolism can get stuck in the brain (and cause a stroke), lungs (and cause a pulmonary embolism), heart (to cause a heart attack), and/or other areas of the body, leading to severe damage.

Venous thrombosis is known to be associated with considerable short-term morbidity and mortality: the mortality rate after venous thrombosis is about 20% within one year and studies to date have suggested that the mortality rate is two to four times higher for patients with pulmonary embolism, of whom 10%–20% die within three months after the event. Many factors are associated with venous thrombosis, and the underlying cause of the thrombosis affects survival; for example, those with thrombotic events provoked by surgery or trauma have a lower mortality risk than patients with thrombosis caused by malignancy. Furthermore, about 10%–20% of patients who have had a venous thrombosis develop a recurrence within five years and up to 50% develop post-thrombotic syndrome—long-term swelling, pain, and changes in skin color.

Why Was This Study Done?

It is currently unknown whether the poor prognosis associated with venous thrombosis is limited to the months following the thrombotic event, or persists for years afterwards. So in this study, the researchers sought to answer this question by analyzing the long-term survival in a large cohort of patients who had experienced a first venous thrombosis and who were all followed for up to eight years.

What Did the Researchers Do and Find?

The researchers used the Multiple Environmental and Genetic Assessment of risk factors for venous thrombosis study (MEGA study), which was a case-control study involving 4,965 consecutive patients aged 18 to 70 years who were objectively diagnosed with a deep venous thrombosis or pulmonary embolism and recruited from six anticoagulation clinics in the Netherlands between March 1999 and September 2004. The control group consisted of partners of patients (n = 3,297) and a random control group matched on age and sex (n = 3,000). The researchers obtained causes of death from the Central Bureau of Statistics and for the observation period (30 days after the venous thrombosis, to either death or end of follow-up between February 2007 and May 2009) compared cause-specific death rates of the patients to those of the general Dutch population. The researchers devised specialist survival models (called Kaplan-Meier life-tables) and calculated standardized mortality ratios (SMRs—the ratio of the observed number of deaths over the number of deaths expected) to estimate relative rates of all cause mortality by type of the initial thrombosis and the underlying cause.

Using these methods, the researchers found that the overall mortality rate in patients with thrombosis was substantially greater than in the control group (22.7 per 1,000 person-years compared to 4.7 per 1,000 person-years). Apart from malignancies, the researchers found that the main causes of death were diseases of the circulatory and respiratory system. Patients with venous thrombosis and malignancy had the highest risk of mortality: 55% died during follow-up. Patients with venous thrombosis without malignancy had an overall 2-fold increased risk of mortality compared to the control group and this risk was comparable for patients with different forms of thrombosis (such as deep venous thrombosis and pulmonary embolus). According to the researchers' calculations, the relative risk of death was highest during the first three years after thrombosis, but for those with thrombosis of unknown cause, the risk of death increased by two-fold up to eight years after the thrombosis. Furthermore, the researchers found that the highly increased risk of death for those with pulmonary embolism is mainly only for the first month as long-term survival is similar to that of patients with a deep venous thrombosis.

What Do These Findings Mean?

These findings show that patients who have experienced a venous thrombosis for the first time have an increased risk of death, which may last up to eight years after the event. These findings have important clinical implications and suggest that long-term clinical follow-up could be beneficial in patients who have experienced a venous thrombosis for the first time.

Additional Information

Please access these Web sites via the online version of this summary at http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1001155.

Wikipedia provides information about venous thrombosis note that Wikipedia is a free online encyclopedia that anyone can edit; available in several languages)

Medline has patient-friendly information about deep venous thrombosis and pulmonary embolism

Thrombophilia traditionally refers to rare inherited defects leading to enhanced coagulation, especially of the venous system. In recent years, a broader search for genetic polymorphisms of prothrombotic genes has been carried out to determine the relative impact on venous and arterial thrombosis. The bulk of evidence is drawn from numerous, often small, heterogeneous, case control association studies, with a variety of end points (deep venous thrombosis, myocardial infarction, or stroke). The data are often conflicting and inconclusive with only factor V Leiden and prothrombin polymorphisms having clear associations with venous thrombosis. Many of the polymorphisms interact with established cardiovascular risk factors, in particular smoking, to increase greatly the risk of a thrombotic episode. Future studies will need to consider the confounding factors of sample size, race, and clinical end points as well gene–environment interactions.

An increasing body of evidence suggests the likelihood of a link between venous and arterial thrombosis. The two vascular complications share several risk factors, such as age, obesity, diabetes mellitus, blood hypertension, hypertriglyceridemia, and metabolic syndrome. Moreover, there are many examples of conditions accounting for both venous and arterial thrombosis, such as the antiphospholipid antibody syndrome, hyperhomocysteinemia, malignancies, infections, and the use of hormonal treatment. Finally, several recent studies have consistently shown that patients with venous thromboembolism are at a higher risk of arterial thrombotic complications than matched control individuals. We, therefore, speculate the two vascular complications are simultaneously triggered by biological stimuli responsible for activating coagulation and inflammatory pathways in both the arterial and the venous system. Future studies are needed to clarify the nature of this association, to assess its extent, and to evaluate its implications for clinical practice.

Renal graft survival has improved over the past years, mainly owing to better immunosuppression. Vascular thrombosis, though rare, therefore accounts for up to one third of early graft loss. We assess current literature on transplantation, identify thrombosis risk factors, and discuss means of avoiding thrombotic events and saving thrombosed grafts. The incidence of arterial thrombosis was reported to 0.2–7.5% and venous thrombosis 0.1–8.2%, with the highest incidence among children and infants, and the lowest in living donor reports. The most significant risk factors for developing thrombosis were donor-age below 6 or above 60 years, or recipient-age below 5-6 years, per- or postoperative hemodynamic instability, peritoneal dialysis, diabetic nephropathy, a history of thrombosis, deceased donor, or >24 hours cold ischemia. Multiple arteries were not a risk factor, and a right kidney graft was most often reported not to be. Given the thrombosed kidney graft is diagnosed in time, salvage is possible by urgent reoperation and thrombectomy. Despite meticulous attentions to reduce thrombotic risk factors, thrombosis cannot be entirely prevented and means to an early detection of this complication is desirable in order to save the kidneys through prompt reoperation. Microdialysis may be a new tool for this.

Thrombosis is a frequent cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with the nephrotic syndrome. Venous thrombotic complications are well recognized but arterial complications are rare. Thrombosis is multifactorial, and has been attributed to a hypercoaguable state due to alterations in blood levels of the various factors involved in the coagulation and fibrinolytic systems, alterations in platelet function, venous stasis, haemoconcentration, increased blood viscosity and possibly the administration of steroids. Thrombosis in general and arterial thrombosis in particular is a significant and potentially serious problem in nephrotic patients. Awareness of the condition and its pathogenesis is needed. Assessment for the risk factors is required to allow appropriate prophylactic measures to be taken.

During the past decade idiopathic venous thromboembolism has become a separate entity, a chronic illness which has required prolonged anticoagulation and other prevention strategies to avoid recurrences. This article reviews recent developments regarding unprovoked venous thromboembolism and its relation with thrombophilia. In the beginning, the latest definition of idiopathic venous thromboembolism is presented. The article continues with statistics about thrombophilia, related venous thromboembolism, and a classification of major thrombophilic factors according to their intrinsic risk of thrombosis and of thrombotic recurrences. Great interest is given to the predictors of recurrence and the importance of prolonged anticoagulation is underlined. The antiphospholipid antibody syndrome, the most common acquired thrombophilia, is presented separately. The revised diagnosis criteria are discussed. Some characteristics of the antiphospholipid syndrome are worth presenting: the risk of both venous and arterial thrombosis, the high risk of thrombotic recurrence and the diversity of antiphospholipid antibodies.

Patients experiencing idiopathic venous thromboembolic event have a great risk of recurrence, and highly benefit from long time anticoagulation. Natural coagulation inhibitors deficiencies, homozygous factor V Leiden and prothrombin G20210A and the antiphospholipid syndrome, increase the risk of first venous thrombosis and their recurrences and require adequate prevention.

Abbreviations: VTE–venous thromboembolism, HRT–hormone replacement therapy, AVK–antivitamin K, FVL–factor V Leiden, PT G20210A–prothrombin G20210A, TAFI–thrombin activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor, PAI–1–plasminogen activator inhibitor 1, T–PA–tissue plasminogen activator, APS–antiphospholipid syndrome, LA–lupus anticoagulant, Abeta2GP1–anti beta2 glycoprotein 1.

AIM: To estimate the prevalence of inherited and acquired thrombophilic risk factors in patients with abdominal venous thrombosis and to compare the risk factor profiles between Budd-Chiari syndromes (BCS) and splanchnic vein thrombosis (SVT).

METHODS: In this retrospective study, 36 patients with abdominal venous thrombosis were studied. The patients were divided into Budd-Chiari group (hepatic vein, IVC thrombosis) and splanchnic venous thrombosis group (portal, splenic, superior mesenteric veins) based on the veins involved. Hereditary and acquired thrombophilic risk factors were evaluated in all patients.

RESULTS: Twenty patients had SVT, 14 had BCS, and 2 had mixed venous thrombosis. Ten patients (28%) had hereditary and 10 patients (28%) acquired thrombophilic risk factors. The acquired risk factors were significantly more common in the SVT group (SVT vs BCS: 45% vs 7%, χ2 = 5.7, P = 0.02) while hereditary risk factors did not show significant differences between the two groups (SVT vs BCS: 25% vs 36%, χ2 = 0.46, P = 0.7). Multiple risk factors were present in one (7%) patient with BCS and in 3 patients (15%) with SVT. No risk factors were identified in 57% of patients with BCS and in 45% of patients with SVT.

CONCLUSION: Hereditary and acquired risk factors play an important role in the etiopathogenesis of abdominal venous thrombosis. Acquired risk factors are significantly more common in SVT patients while hereditary factors are similar in both groups.

Tamoxifen has been implicated as a risk factor for venous thrombosis in advanced breast cancer although the evidence for increased arterial or venous thrombosis with tamoxifen in early breast cancer is less clear. The effect of tamoxifen on haemostasis, and thereby possible thromboembolic risk, was investigated in normal women enrolled in a placebo controlled trial of tamoxifen as a chemopreventative agent for breast cancer. There was an initial reduction in fibrinogen levels in all women on tamoxifen over the first year of follow-up and a marginal reduction in antithrombin III and Protein S in postmenopausal women at 6 months. There were no changes in cross linked fibrinogen degradation products or Protein C for pre or post-menopausal women. There was no increase in the incidence of thromboembolic events on tamoxifen. This study demonstrates that tamoxifen has only marginal effects on factors involved in haemostasis reported to affect the incidence of arterial or venous thromboembolic disease. The follow-up time is relatively short (maximum 36 months) and careful long term follow-up is necessary to detect clinically significant morbidity.

Background

Recent studies have indicated an increased risk of venous thrombosis after air travel. Nevertheless, questions on the magnitude of risk, the underlying mechanism, and modifying factors remain unanswered.

Methods and Findings

We studied the effect of various modes and duration of travel on the risk of venous thrombosis in a large ongoing case-control study on risk factors for venous thrombosis in an unselected population (MEGA study). We also assessed the combined effect of travel and prothrombotic mutations, body mass index, height, and oral contraceptive use.

Since March 1999, consecutive patients younger than 70 y with a first venous thrombosis have been invited to participate in the study, with their partners serving as matched control individuals. Information has been collected on acquired and genetic risk factors for venous thrombosis. Of 1,906 patients, 233 had traveled for more than 4 h in the 8 wk preceding the event. Traveling in general was found to increase the risk of venous thrombosis 2-fold (odds ratio [OR] 2.1; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.5–3.0). The risk of flying was similar to the risks of traveling by car, bus, or train. The risk was highest in the first week after traveling. Travel by car, bus, or train led to a high relative risk of thrombosis in individuals with factor V Leiden (OR 8.1; 95% CI 2.7–24.7), in those who had a body mass index of more than 30 kg/m2 (OR 9.9; 95% CI 3.6–27.6), in those who were more than 1.90 m tall (OR 4.7; 95% CI 1.4–15.4), and in those who used oral contraceptives (estimated OR > 20). For air travel these synergistic findings were more apparent, while people shorter than 1.60 m had an increased risk of thrombosis after air travel (OR 4.9; 95% CI 0.9–25.6) as well.

Conclusions

The risk of venous thrombosis after travel is moderately increased for all modes of travel. Subgroups exist in which the risk is highly increased.

In a large case-control study of travelers, the risk of venous thrombosis was increased 3-fold with a similar risk for flying or travelling by car, bus, or train.

Editors' Summary

Background.

Recently there has been increasing concern that blood clots (thromboses) in the leg or lungs occur with greater frequency after air travel. Several theories have been put forward to explain why this increase might happen, including the fact that air passengers tend to not move around much, or possibly that reduced amounts of oxygen in the blood make the blood more likely to clot. Understanding what causes such clots is important as it would help us come up with suggestions of ways to prevent them.

Why Was This Study Done?

It is not possible to test in a controlled trial whether travel causes an increase in blood clots, so the next best way of studying this problem is to do a case-control study, in which people with blood clots (cases) are compared with similar people who don't have a blood clot (controls—in this case, the partners of the cases), and the differences in a number of contributing factors are assessed.

What Did the Researchers Do and Find?

Since 1999, the MEGA (Multiple Environmental and Genetic Assessment of Risk Factors for Venous Thrombosis) study has aimed to identify all people in an area of the Netherlands who develop a blood clot for the first time, by seeking out people who receive treatment for blood clots. At the time of this report, 1,906 people with clots had been found; of these, 233 had traveled for more than four hours in the eight weeks preceding the event. Traveling in general was found to increase the risk of clots two-fold, and the risk was highest in the week after traveling. The risk of flying was similar to the risk of traveling by car, bus, or train, and was highest in the first week after traveling. Certain other factors increased the risk of a blood clot even more, such as having a particular mutation (known as factor V Leiden) in a gene involved in blood clotting, having a body mass index of more than 30 kg/m2 (over 30 kg/m2 is defined as being obese), being more than 1.90 meters tall, and using oral contraceptives. All these factors made the risk of clots especially after air travel worse; in addition, people shorter than 1.60 meters also had an increased risk of thrombosis after air travel. However, it should be borne in mind that the number of cases in each of these various groups was quite small, and the overall risk of getting a thrombosis is still low.

What Do These Findings Mean?

Since the risks of thrombosis are increased for all types of long travel, it seems that the main factor causing the thrombosis is immobility. However, since the risk is even higher for air travel, the relative lack of oxygen may also play a part. One interesting aspect of this study is that the researchers used partners as controls; in order to be sure that doing this did not make the results invalid, the researchers had to carefully adjust for differences between the cases and controls, such as the fact that partners were generally of the opposite sex. In a related Perspective (DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.0030300), Kenneth Rothman discusses the study further.

Additional Information.

Please access these Web sites via the online version of this summary at http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.0030307.

MedlinePlus encyclopedia entries on deep venous thrombosis and pulmonary embolus

OMNI, a health information service in the UK run by the Resource Discovery Network, has links to pages of information on venous thrombosis

The Web site for the MEGA study in this paper gives further background and information

The Web site of the World Health Organization Research Initiative into Global Hazards of Travel has information on research into the connection between air travel and venous thrombosis

OBJECTIVE

A direct comparison of the incidence and risk factors of major thrombosis in essential thrombocythemia (ET) and polycythemia vera (PV) according to their respective JAK2V617F allele burden is the object of this study.

METHODS

We compared the rate (%/pts/yr) of major thrombosis in 867 ET patients (57% JAK2V617F) with that of 415 PV patients (all JAK2V617F) and examined risk factors.

RESULTS

Patients with ET wild type, ET V617F and PV showed a rate of thrombosis of 1.4, 2.1, and 2.7 %/pt/yr respectively. This latter was found to progressively increase according to the time of diagnosis. The actuarial probability of arterial and venous thrombosis in the first 5 years of diagnosis was roughly similar in the three groups. While, in the subsequent periods, the curves of mutated ET patients diverged from wild type and after 10–15 years, ET mutated arm approached PV.

CONCLUSION

These findings support the concept of a continuum between ET JAK2 mutated and PV not only in reference to the hematological phenotype but also in terms of vascular events

Background:

Combined oral contraceptives are a common method of contraception, but they carry a risk of venous and arterial thrombosis. We assessed whether use of drospirenone was associated with an increase in thrombotic risk relative to third-generation combined oral contraceptives.

Methods:

Using computerized records of the largest health care provider in Israel, we identified all women aged 12 to 50 years for whom combined oral contraceptives had been dispensed between Jan. 1, 2002, and Dec. 31, 2008. We followed the cohort until 2009. We used Poisson regression models to estimate the crude and adjusted rate ratios for risk factors for venous thrombotic events (specifically deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism) and arterial thromboic events (specifically transient ischemic attack and cerebrovascular accident). We performed multivariable analyses to compare types of contraceptives, with adjustment for the various risk factors.

Results:

We identified a total of 1017 (0.24%) venous and arterial thrombotic events among 431 223 use episodes during 819 749 woman-years of follow-up (6.33 venous events and 6.10 arterial events per 10 000 woman-years). In a multivariable model, use of drospirenone carried an increased risk of venous thrombotic events, relative to both third-generation combined oral contraceptives (rate ratio [RR] 1.43, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.15–1.78) and second-generation combined oral contraceptives (RR 1.65, 95% CI 1.02–2.65). There was no increase in the risk of arterial thrombosis with drospirenone.

Interpretation:

Use of drospirenone-containing oral contraceptives was associated with an increased risk of deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism, but not transient ischemic attack or cerebrovascular attack, relative to second- and third-generation combined oral contraceptives.

Venous thromboembolism, presenting as deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism, is a major challenge for health care systems. It is the third most common vascular disease after coronary heart disease and stroke, and many hospitalized patients have at least one risk factor. In particular, patients undergoing hip or knee replacement are at risk, with an incidence of asymptomatic deep vein thrombosis of 40%–60% without thromboprophylaxis. Venous thromboembolism is associated with significant mortality and morbidity, with patients being at risk of recurrence, post-thrombotic syndrome, and chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension. Arterial thromboembolism is even more frequent, and atrial fibrillation, the most common embolic source (cardiac arrhythmia), is associated with a five-fold increase in the risk of stroke. Strokes due to atrial fibrillation tend to be more severe and disabling and are more often fatal than strokes due to other causes. Currently, recommended management of both venous and arterial thromboembolism involves the use of anticoagulants such as coumarin and heparin derivatives. These agents are effective, although have characteristics that prevent them from providing optimal anticoagulation and convenience. Hence, new improved oral anticoagulants are being investigated. Dabigatran is a reversible, direct thrombin inhibitor, which is administered as dabigatran etexilate, the oral prodrug. Because it is the first new oral anticoagulant that has been licensed in many countries worldwide for thromboprophylaxis following orthopedic surgery and for stroke prevention in patients with atrial fibrillation, this compound will be the main focus of this review. Dabigatran has been investigated for the treatment of established venous thromboembolism and prevention of recurrence in patients undergoing hip or knee replacement, as well as for stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation patients with a moderate and high risk of stroke.

Background

Previously, we demonstrated that hypofibrinolysis, a decreased capacity to dissolve a blood clot as measured with an overall clot lysis assay, increases the risk of venous thrombosis. Here, we investigated the combined effect of hypofibrinolysis with established risk factors associated with hypercoagulability.

Methods and Findings

Fibrinolytic potential was determined with a plasma-based clot lysis assay in 2,090 patients with venous thrombosis and 2,564 control participants between 18 and 70 y of age enrolled in the Multiple Environmental and Genetic Assessment (MEGA) of risk factors for venous thrombosis study, a population-based case-control study on venous thrombosis. Participants completed a standardized questionnaire on acquired risk factors.

Hypofibrinolysis alone, i.e., clot lysis time (CLT) in the fourth quartile (longest CLT) (in absence of the other risk factor of interest) increased thrombosis risk about 2-fold relative to individuals with CLT in the first quartile (shortest CLT). Oral contraceptive use in women with CLT in the first quartile gave an odds ratio (OR) of 2.6 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.6 to 4.0), while women with hypofibrinolysis who used oral contraceptives had an over 20-fold increased risk of venous thrombosis (OR 21.8, 95% CI 10.2 to 46.7). For immobilization alone the OR was 4.3 (95% CI 3.2 to 5.8) and immobilization with hypofibrinolysis increased the risk 10.3-fold (95% CI 7.7 to 13.8). Factor V Leiden alone increased the risk 3.5-fold (95% CI 2.3 to 5.5), and hypofibrinolysis in factor V Leiden carriers gave an OR of 8.1 (95% CI 5.3 to 12.3). The combination of hypofibrinolysis and the prothrombin 20210A mutation did not synergistically increase the risk. All ORs and 95% CIs presented are relative to individuals with CLT in the first quartile and without the other risk factor of interest.

Conclusions

The combination of hypofibrinolysis with oral contraceptive use, immobilization, or factor V Leiden results in a risk of venous thrombosis that exceeds the sum of the individual risks.

Frits Rosendaal and colleagues show that the combination of hypofibrinolysis with oral contraceptive use, immobilization, or factor V Leiden results in a risk of venous thrombosis that exceeds the sum of the individual risks.

Editors' Summary

Background.

When a blood vessel is injured, proteins in the blood called clotting factors “coagulate” (solidify) the blood at the injury site. The resultant clot (thrombus) plugs the wound and prevents blood loss. When the injury has healed, other proteins dissolve the clot, a process called “fibrinolysis.” Sometimes, however, a thrombus develops inside an undamaged blood vessel and partly or completely blocks the blood flow. A clot that occurs in one of the veins (vessels that take the blood to the heart) deep within the body (usually in the leg) is a deep vein thrombosis (DVT). Some DVTs have no symptoms; others cause pain, swelling, and tenderness in one leg. They are usually treated with heparin and warfarin, anticoagulant drugs that stop the clot growing. If left untreated, part of the clot (an embolus) can break off and travel to the lungs, where it can cause a life-threatening condition called a pulmonary embolism (PE).

Why Was This Study Done?

Most people are very unlikely to develop venous thrombosis (the collective term for DVT and PE), but anything that makes blood “hypercoagulable” (prone to clotting) increases this risk. Genetic risk factors can be inherited changes in blood clotting proteins (for example, a mutation in a gene coding for one protein, factor V, which is involved in clotting, is known as factor V Leiden—Leiden, The Netherlands, was where it was first described). There are also acquired risk factors such as taking oral contraceptives or being immobilized (for example, during bed rest). These risk factors often act in such a way that the risk of developing venous thrombosis for a person with multiple risk factors is greater than the sum of the individual risks. Another recently identified but little studied risk factor for venous thrombosis is “hypofibrinolysis,” a decreased capacity to dissolve blood clots. In this study (part of the “MEGA” study on risk factors for venous thrombosis), the researchers investigate the combined effect of hypofibrinolysis and established risk factors associated with hypercoagulability on the risk of developing venous thrombosis.

What Did the Researchers Do and Find?

The researchers collected blood from more than 2,000 individuals after their first DVT or PE and from a similar number of persons without venous thrombosis (controls). For each blood sample, they measured the time it took to dissolve a clot generated from that blood in a test tube (the clot lysis time or CLT) and determined which participants had the factor V Leiden mutation or a genetic change in the clotting factor prothrombin that also increases blood coagulability. The study participants also completed a questionnaire about acquired risk factors for venous thrombosis. The researchers divided the participants into four equal-sized groups (quartiles) based on their CLT and used the quartile with the lowest CLT as the reference group for their statistical analyses; hypofibrinolysis was defined as a CLT in the highest quartile (the longest times). Participants with hypofibrinolysis alone were twice as likely to develop venous thrombosis as those with a CLT in the lowest quartile (the shortest times). Oral contraceptive use alone increased the risk of venous thrombosis 2.5-fold, whereas the combination of oral contraceptive use and hypofibrinolysis increased the risk 20-fold. The researchers also found synergistic effects on thrombosis risk for hypofibrinolysis combined with immobilization or with the factor V Leiden mutation but not with the prothrombin mutation.

What Do These Findings Mean?

These findings confirm that persons with hypofibrinolysis and hence longer CLTs have a greater risk of developing venous thrombosis than those with short CLTs. Because CLTs were measured after venous thrombosis had occurred, hypofibrinolysis could be an effect rather than a cause of this condition. However, this is unlikely because there was no association between how long after the venous thrombosis the blood sample was taken and the measured CLT. These findings also show that the combination of hypofibrinolysis with immobilization, the factor V Leiden mutation, and oral contraceptive use greatly increases the risk of venous thrombosis. This new information about the risk factors for venous thrombosis should help physicians to advise patients about reducing their chances of developing this life-threatening condition.

Additional Information.

Please access these Web sites via the online version of this summary at http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.0050097.

The MedlinePlus encyclopedia has pages on blood clots, deep vein thrombosis, and pulmonary embolism (in English and Spanish)

The US National Heart Lung and Blood Institute provides information on deep vein thrombosis, including an animation about how DVT causes pulmonary embolisms

The UK National Health Service Direct health encyclopedia provides information for patients on deep vein thrombosis (in several languages)

More information about the Multiple Environmental and Genetic Assessment of risk factors for venous thrombosis (MEGA) study is available on the Leiden University Medical Center Web site

Wikipedia has pages on coagulation and on fibrinolysis (note that Wikipedia is a free online encyclopedia that anyone can edit; available in several languages)

Among children, newborn infants are most vulnerable to development of thrombosis and serious thromboembolic complications. Amongst newborns, those neonates who are critically ill, both term and preterm, are at greatest risk for developing symptomatic thromboembolic disease. The most important risk factors are inflammation, DIC, impaired liver function, fluctuations in cardiac output, and congenital heart disease, as well as exogenous risk factors such as central venous or arterial catheters. In most clinically symptomatic infants, diagnosis is made by ultrasound, venography, or CT or MRI angiograms. However, clinically asymptomatic vessel thrombosis is sometimes picked up by screening investigations or during routine imaging for other indications. Acute management of thrombosis and thromboembolism comprises a variety of approaches, including simple observation, treatment with unfractionated or low molecular weight heparin, as well as more aggressive interventions such as thrombolytic therapy or catheter-directed revascularization. Long-term follow-up is dependent on the underlying diagnosis. In the majority of infants, stabilization of the patients’ general condition and hemodynamics, which allows removal of indwelling catheters, renders long-term anticoagulation superfluous. Nevertheless, in certain types of congenital heart disease or inherited thrombophilia, long-term prophylaxis may be warranted. This review article focuses on pathophysiology, diagnosis, and acute and long-term management of thrombosis in critically ill term and preterm neonates.

Virchow’s triad is traditionally invoked to explain pathophysiologic mechanisms leading to thrombosis, alleging concerted roles for abnormalities in blood composition, vessel wall components, and blood flow in the development of arterial and venous thrombosis. Given the tissue-specific bleeding observed in hemophilia patients, it may be instructive to consider the principles of Virchow’s triad when investigating mechanisms operant in hemostatic disorders as well. Blood composition (the function of circulating blood cells and plasma proteins) is the most well-studied component of the triad. For example, increased levels of plasma procoagulant proteins such as prothrombin and fibrinogen are established risk factors for thrombosis, whereas deficiencies in plasma factors VIII and IX result in bleeding (hemophilia A and B, respectively). Vessel wall (cellular) components contribute adhesion molecules that recruit circulating leukocytes and platelets to sites of vascular damage, tissue factor, which provides a procoagulant signal of vascular breach, and a surface upon which coagulation complexes are assembled. Blood flow is often characterized by two key variables: shear rate and shear stress. Shear rate affects several aspects of coagulation, including transport rates of platelets and plasma proteins to and from the injury site, platelet activation, and the kinetics of fibrin monomer formation and polymerization. Shear stress modulates adhesion rates of platelets and expression of adhesion molecules and procoagulant activity on endothelial cells lining the blood vessels. That no one abnormality in any component of Virchow’s triad fully predicts coagulopathy a priori suggests coagulopathies are complex, multifactorial and interactive. In this review, we focus on contributions of blood composition, vascular cells, and blood flow to hemostasis and thrombosis, and suggests cross-talk among the three components of Virchow’s triad is necessary for hemostasis and determines propensity for thrombosis or bleeding. Investigative models that permit interplay among these components are necessary to understand the operant pathophysiology, and effectively treat and prevent thrombotic and bleeding disorders.

Background

Venous stasis syndrome may complicate deep vein thrombosis (DVT; i.e., post-phlebitic syndrome), but in most cases, venous stasis syndrome is not post-phlebitic.

Objective

To determine risk factors (including prior DVT) for venous stasis syndrome, and to assess venous outflow obstruction and venous valvular incompetence as possible mechanisms for venous stasis syndrome.

Design

Case-control study nested within a population-based inception cohort.

Population

232 Olmsted County, MN residents with a first lifetime venous thromboembolism (VTE), and 133 residents without VTE.

Measurements

Questionnaire and physical examination for venous stasis syndrome; strain gauge outflow plethysmography, venous continuous wave Doppler ultrasonography and passive venous drainage and refill testing for venous outflow obstruction and venous valvular incompetence.

Results

Altogether, 161 (44%), 43 (12%), and 136 (38%) subjects respectively, had venous stasis syndrome, venous outflow obstruction and venous valvular incompetence. Independent risk factors for venous stasis syndrome included increasing patient age and body mass index (BMI), prior DVT, longer time interval since DVT, and varicose veins. Both venous outflow obstruction (p=0.003) and venous valvular incompetence (p<0.0001) were strongly associated with venous stasis syndrome. Increasing age and prior DVT were significantly associated with venous outflow obstruction, while prior DVT, varicose veins and venous stasis syndrome diagnosed prior to the incident DVT were significantly associated with venous valvular incompetence. The risks of venous outflow obstruction, venous valvular incompetence and venous stasis syndrome were higher with left leg DVT.

Conclusions

Increasing patient age and BMI, prior DVT (particularly left leg DVT), longer time interval since DVT and varicose veins are independent risk factors for venous stasis syndrome. Venous stasis syndrome related to DVT is due to venous outflow obstruction and venous valvular incompetence, while venous stasis syndrome related to older age and to varicose veins is due to venous outflow obstruction and to venous valvular incompetence, respectively.

Obstetric complications are the hallmark of antiphospholipid syndrome. Recurrent miscarriage, early delivery, oligohydramnios, prematurity, intrauterine growth restriction, fetal distress, fetal or neonatal thrombosis, pre-eclampsia/eclampsia, HELLP syndrome, arterial or venous thrombosis and placental insufficiency are the most severe APS-related complication for pregnant women. Antiphospholipid antibodies promote activation of endothelial cells, monocytes and platelets, causing an overproduction of tissue factor and thromboxane A2. Complement activation might have a central pathogenetic role. These factors, associated with the typical changes in the hemostatic system during normal pregnancy, result in a hypercoagulable state. This is responsible of thrombosis that is presumed to provoke many of the pregnancy complications associated with APS. Obstetric care is based on combined medical-obstetric high-risk management and treatment with the association between aspirin and heparin. This review aims to deter- mine the current state of the art of APS by investigating the knowledge achievements of recent years, to provide the most appropriate diagnostic and therapeutic management for pregnant women suffering from this syndrome.

Summary

Although antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL) are associated with thrombosis, it is not known who with aPL is at higher risk for thrombosis. It was the aim of this cross-sectional study to investigate how thrombophilic factors contribute to venous or arterial thrombosis in aPL-positive individuals. In outpatient test centres at two tertiary care hospitals, two hundred and eight (208) persons requiring aPL testing were matched by age, gender and centre to 208 persons requiring a complete blood count. Persons were classified as aPL-positive (having anticardiolipin, lupus anticoagulant and/or anti-β2-glycoprotein I antibodies) or aPL-negative. Several thrombophilic factors were studied using logistic regression modelling. Results showed that the aPL-positive group had three-fold more events (37%) than the aPL-negative group (12%). In unadjusted analyses, clinically important associations were observed between factor V Leiden and venous thrombosis, hyperhomocysteinemia and arterial thrombosis, and activated protein C resistance (APCR) and venous thrombosis (OR, 95% CI = 4.00, 1.35–11.91; 4.79, 2.03–11.33; and 2.03, 1.03–3.97, respectively). After adjusting for recruitment group, persons with both APCR and aPL had a three-fold greater risk (OR, 95% CI = 3.31, 1.30–8.41) for venous thrombosis than those with neither APCR nor aPL. Similarly, after adjusting for hypertension, family history of cardiovascular disease, gender and recruitment group, persons with both hyperhomocysteinemia and aPL had a five-fold increased risk (OR, 95% CI = 4.90, 1.37–17.37) for arterial thrombosis compared to those with neither risk factor. In conclusion, APCR phenotype and hyperhomocysteinemia are associated with a higher risk of venous and arterial thrombosis, respectively, in the presence of aPL.

Introduction

The factor XIII Val34Leu (100 G→T) and β-fibrinogen Hae III (-455 G→A) gene variants have been associated with reduced risk of venous thrombosis, but not in all studies.

Methods

We investigated the associations of these polymorphisms with risk of venous thrombosis in a prospective, population-based study of 21,680 men and women aged 45–100 years at enrollment. Factor XIII 100 G/T and β-fibrinogen -455 G/A were analyzed on stored DNA from 511 thrombosis cases and 1028 control subjects without thrombosis during follow up.

Results

The β-fibrinogen A allele was present in 24.4% of cases and 32.3% of controls. Compared to GG subjects, the age, race, and sex adjusted odds ratio (OR) of venous thrombosis was 0.77 (95% CI 0.59–0.99) for GA subjects, and 0.60 (95% CI 0.31–1.16) for AA subjects. The adjusted OR of thrombosis associated with factor XIII 100 G/T was 1.01 (95% CI 0.81–1.26) for GT subjects and 0.45 (95% CI 0.44–1.19) for TT subjects, compared to GG. For both genotypes, ORs of thrombosis were similar in whites and non-whites, although there were no non-white fibrinogen AA cases. β-Fibrinogen -455GA or AA attenuated the thrombosis risk associated with obesity (from 2.14 to 1.25) and factor V Leiden (from 3.89 to 2.36).

Conclusions

β-fibrinogen -455 G/A, but not factor XIII 100 G/T, was associated with a lower risk of venous thrombosis in this general population sample. β-Fibrinogen -455A may attenuate the increased thrombosis risk associated with obesity or factor V Leiden.

AIMS—To determine the incidence of neonatal thromboembolism in Germany.
METHODS—Diagnostic imaging techniques, therapeutic modalities, and short term outcome were evaluated in a prospective nationwide two year case registry study.
RESULTS—The reported incidence of symptomatic neonatal thromboembolism, diagnosed in most cases with Doppler ultrasonography, was 5.1 per 100 000 births, with a total of 79 cases registered: renal venous thrombosis (n=35); venous thrombosis (n=25); and arterial vascular occlusion (n=19). Fifty seven of 79 thromboses were associated with additional risk factors (central line n=25, asphyxia n=13, septicaemia n=11, dehydration n=6, maternal diabetes n=2, cardiac disease n=1). Inherited thrombophilia was also diagnosed in seven out of 35 cases investigated. Twenty three children received supportive treatment: 42 received heparin and in 13 neonates thrombolytic agents were administered. Most neonates (91%) survived; seven died.
CONCLUSION—Controlled multicentre studies are needed to obtain more information on treatment efficacy.

 Keywords: thromboembolism; Doppler ultrasonography; heparin; thrombolytic agents; Germany

Summary

Thrombosis, or complications from thrombosis, currently occupies the top three positions in the cardiovascular causes of morbidity and mortality in the developed world. There are a limited number of safe and effective drugs to prevent and treat thrombosis. Animal models of thrombosis are necessary to better understand the complex components and interactions involved in the formation of a clot. Tissue factor (TF) is required for the initiation of blood coagulation and likely plays a key role in both arterial and venous thrombosis. Understanding the role of TF in thrombosis may permit the development of new antithrombotic drugs. This review will focus on the role of TF in in vivo models of thrombosis.

Aim

Lower extremity deep venous thrombosis in the young adult is uncommon and has not been well studied in the literature. The aim of this study is to define risk factors for deep venous thrombosis among patients younger than 50 years of age, to compare them with a control group, and to suggest recommendations for the management and treatment of venous thrombosis in this particular group of patients.

Methods

From January 2003 to January 2011, 66 consecutive Lebanese patients (29 males and 37 females) younger than 50 years, diagnosed in an academic tertiary-care center with lower extremity deep venous thrombosis by color flow duplex scan, were retrospectively reviewed. Their age varied between 21 and 50 years (mean 38.7 years). The control group included 217 patients (86 males and 131 females) older than 50 years (range: 50–96 years; mean 72.9 years).

Results

The most commonly reported risk factors in the younger age group were inherited thrombophilia (46.9% compared with 13.8% in the control group; P < 0.001), pregnancy (18.2% compared with 0.5%; P < 0.001), treatment with estrogen drugs (13.6% compared with 2.3%; P = 0.001), and family history of venous thromboembolism (9.1% compared with 3.8%; P = 0.084).

Conclusion

Inherited thrombophilia is the most commonly observed risk factor among patients younger than 50 years, with a prevalence of three times more than the control group. Young adults should be screened for thrombophilia even in the presence of transient acquired risk factors. Pregnancy and treatment with estrogen drugs essentially when associated with inherited thrombophilia represent a frequent cause of venous thrombosis among young female patients. Inferior vena cava abnormalities should be excluded in young patients with spontaneous proximal venous thrombosis especially when recurrent venous thrombosis or resistance to anticoagulation are observed.

The authors present a case of a congenital absence of the infrarenal inferior vena cava in an 18-year-old man showing symptoms of deep venous thrombosis of the left leg. The congenital absence of the inferior vena cava is typically asymptomatic and is commonly reported as a fortuitous finding. Abnormalities of the inferior vena cava are risk factors contributing to the development of deep venous thrombosis. The absence of vena cava is underestimated in patients with deep venous thrombosis because in some cases compression B-mode ultrasonography will not reveal the condition. CT should be made available for all young patients with idiopathic deep venous thrombosis.

Protein S is found in two forms in plasma; as free and functionally active protein S, and complexed to C4b-binding protein. Patients with nephrotic syndrome are at risk for arterial and venous thrombosis at various localizations, and acquired protein S deficiency due to the selective urinary loss of the free form may be a risk factor for the development of thromboembolic complications. We report a case of cerebral arterial thrombosis associated with decreased level of free protein S antigen (44%) in a 39-year-old female patient with nephrotic syndrome.

Summary

Background

Previously we found increased clot lysis time (CLT), as measured with a plasma-based assay, to increase the risk of venous thrombosis in two population-based case-control studies. Genes influencing CLT are yet unknown.

Objectives and Patients/Methods

We tested CLT as risk factor for venous thrombosis in Kindred Vermont II (n=346), a pedigree suffering from a high thrombosis risk, partially attributable to a type I protein C deficiency. Furthermore we tested for quantitative trait loci (QTL) for CLT using variance component linkage analysis.

Results

Protein C deficient family members had shorter CLT than non-deficient members (median CLT 67 versus 75 minutes). One standard deviation increase in CLT increased risk of venous thrombosis 2.4-fold in non-deficient family members. Protein C deficiency without elevated CLT increased risk 6.9-fold. Combining both risk factors yielded a 27.8-fold increased risk. Heritability of CLT was 42-52%. We found suggestive evidence of linkage on chromosome 11 (62 cM), partly explained by the prothrombin 20210A mutation, and on chromosome 13 (52 cM). Thrombin Activatable Fibrinolysis Inhibitor genotypes did not explain the variation in CLT.

Conclusion

Hypofibrinolysis appears to increase thrombosis risk in this family especially in combination with protein C deficiency. Protein C deficiency is associated with short CLT. CLT is partly genetically regulated. Suggestive QTL were found on chromosome 11 and 13.