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Thrombosis News

• Updated Analysis of Gene Variants Associated With Deep Vein Thrombosis A single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) association study assessing variants associated with deep vein thrombosis found that, of 19 682 gene-centric SNPs, 18 were consistently associated with deep vein thrombosis in the Leiden Thrombophilia Study (LETS) and in a subset of the Multiple Environmental and Genetic Assessment of Risk Factors for Venous Thrombosis (MEGA-1). Nine of these SNPs were genotyped in the remaining part of the MEGA study (MEGA-2). Assays for the other 9 SNPs for MEGA-2 were not available at that time; the associations of these 9 SNPs with venous thrombosis in 1314 cases and 2877 controls of MEGA-2 were subsequently assessed.
• 'Significant' improvement in stroke care in England Stroke care in England has improved significantly over the past four years, according to a National Audit Office report. A patient''s chance of dying within 10 years of having a stroke has decreased from 71% in 2006 to 67% in 2010, say the authors of the report.
• Early anticoagulation may improve survival after pulmonary embolism Starting heparin in the emergency department (ED) rather than after admission may improve the survival of patients with acute pulmonary embolism (PE), according to a Mayo Clinic study. In-hospital mortality for patients receiving ED anticoagulation was 1.4%, much lower than the 6.7% in patients treated after hospital admission (p = 0.009).
• Risk of Deep Vein Thrombosis Following a Single Negative Whole-Leg Compression Ultrasound In patients with suspected lower extremity deep vein thrombosis (DVT), compression ultrasound (CUS) is typically the initial test to confirm or exclude DVT. Patients with an initial negative CUS result often require repeat CUS after 5 to 7 days. Whole-leg CUS may exclude proximal and distal DVT in a single evaluation.