Thrombosis research
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More than one-third of women with deep venous thrombosis (DVT) will develop the postthrombotic syndrome (PTS), and 5-10% develop severe PTS, which can manifest as venous ulcers. Typical features of PTS include chronic pain, swelling, heaviness, edema and skin changes in the affected limb. The main risk factors for PTS are persistent leg symptoms one month after acute DVT, anatomically extensive DVT, recurrent ipsilateral DVT, obesity and older age. ⋯ The cornerstone of managing PTS is compression therapy, primarily using ECS. Venoactive medications such as aescin and rutosides may provide short term relief of PTS symptoms. Further studies to elucidate the pathophysiology of PTS, to identify clinical and biological risk factors and to test new preventive and therapeutic approaches to PTS are needed.
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Thrombosis research · Feb 2011
ReviewEpidemiology of the contraceptive pill and venous thromboembolism.
Current users of combined oral contraceptives have an increased risk of venous thromboembolism. The risk appears to be higher during the first year of use and disappears rapidly once oral contraception is stopped. There is a strong interaction between hereditary defects of coagulation, combined oral contraceptive use and venous thromboembolism. ⋯ Even if real, the absolute difference in risk between products is small, because the background incidence of venous thromboembolism in young women is low. All currently available combined oral contraceptives are safe. Progestogen-only oral contraceptives are not associated with an increased risk of venous thromboembolism.
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Thrombosis research · Feb 2011
Recent findings in the epidemiology, diagnosis and treatment of superficial-vein thrombosis.
Recent data on lower-limb superficial-vein thrombosis (SVT) may substantially impact its clinical management. Thus, the clear confirmation that SVT is closely linked to deep-vein thrombosis (DVT) or pulmonary embolism (PE) highlights the potential severity of the disease. ⋯ For the first time, an anticoagulant treatment, once-daily 2.5 mg fondaparinux for 45 days, was demonstrated to be effective and safe for preventing these symptomatic thromboembolic events in patients with lower-limb isolated SVT in the randomized placebo-controlled CALISTO study. Based on these recent findings, new recommendations on the management of SVT patients, including complete ultrasonography examination of the legs, and in patients with isolated SVT, prescription of once-daily 2.5 mg fondaparinux subcutaneously for 45 days on top of symptomatic treatments, may be proposed.
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Although venous thromboembolism (VTE) is the leading cause of maternal mortality in developed countries, the usefulness of preventive low-molecular weight heparin (LMWH) after cesarean section remains a matter of controversy. This article will review a recent decision analysis addressing this question, comparing a 7-day LMWH with none in this setting. Prophylaxis with LMWH yielded the highest quality-adjusted life expectancy, with a net gain of 1.5 days per treated patient. ⋯ In the hypothetical cases created by the authors, LMWH was safe but only marginally more effective in women with no risk factors. With the addition of other risk factors, reductions in VTE greatly outnumbered the increase in major hemorrhages. This study highlights the need to assess the individual thrombotic risk in women after a cesarean section.
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Thrombosis research · Feb 2011
Comparison of the Wells score with the simplified revised Geneva score for assessing pretest probability of pulmonary embolism.
The Wells score is widely used in the assessment of pretest probability of pulmonary embolism (PE). The revised Geneva score is a fully standardized clinical decision rule that was recently validated and further simplified. We compared the predictive accuracy of these two scores. ⋯ In our population the Wells score appeared to be more accurate than the simplified revised Geneva score. The impact of this finding in terms of patient outcomes should be investigated in a prospective study.