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A venous thrombosis is a blood clot that forms within a vein. (Thrombosis is a specific medical term for a blood clot that remains in the place where it formed.)

Classification

Superficial venous thromboses can cause discomfort but generally do not cause serious consequences, unlike the deep venous thromboses (DVTs) that form in the deep veins of the legs or in the pelvic veins.

Since the veins return blood to the heart, if a piece of a blood clot formed in a vein breaks off it can be transported to the right side of the heart, and from there into the lungs. A piece of thrombus that is transported in this way is an embolism: the process of forming a thrombus that becomes embolic is called a thromboembolism. An embolism that lodges in the lungs is a pulmonary embolism (PE). A pulmonary embolus is a very serious condition that can be fatal if not recognized and treated promptly.

Systemic embolisms of venous origin can occur in patients with an atrial or ventricular septal defect, through which an embolus may pass into the arterial system. This is termed a paradoxical emboli.

Risk factors

• General
  • Older age
  • Female gender
  • Smoking
  • Obesity
  • Pregnancy
  • Immobilisation
  • Minor injuries^[1]

• Medical
  • Surgery
  • Trauma
  • Use of combined (containing both estrogen and progestin) forms of hormonal contraception
  • Varicose veins
  • Malignancy
  • Kidney disorders
  • Lupus anticoagulant
  • Paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria
  • Inflammatory bowel disease
  • Thromboangiitis obliterans (Mb Bürger)
  • Disseminated intravascular coagulation

• Familial
  • Antithrombin III deficiency
  • Protein C deficiency/Protein S deficiency
  • APC resistance (Factor V Leiden)
  • Dysfibrogenemia
  • Hypoplasminogenemia
  • Familial homocysteinemia

Prevention

Vitamin E may prevent venous thrombosis.^[2]

References

1. ^ Karlijn J. van Stralen, MSc; Frits R. Rosendaal, MD, PhD; Carine J. M. Doggen, PhD (January 14, 2008). "Minor Injuries as a Risk Factor for Venous Thrombosis". Arch Intern Med 168 No. 1: 21–26. doi:10.1001/archinternmed.2007.5. PMID 18195191. 
2. ^ Glynn RJ, Ridker PM, Goldhaber SZ, Zee RY, Buring JE (2007). "Effects of random allocation to vitamin E supplementation on the occurrence of venous thromboembolism: report from the Women's Health Study". Circulation 116 (13): 1497–503. doi:10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.107.716407. PMID 17846285. 

See also

• Portal vein thrombosis
• Deep vein thrombosis
• Pulmonary embolism
• Arterial thrombosis
• Plethysmography, a test to detect a venous thrombosis

Wikipedia content modification information:

• This page was last modified on 20 August 2008, at 16:13.

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