Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To estimate the frequency of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) among hospitalized Japanese patients with acute medical diseases/episodes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a prospective, observational study. The inclusion criteria were: hospitalized patients who were defined as high risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) development by the prevention guideline with; 1) COPD (acute exacerbation), infectious diseases, or inflammatory diseases, 2) bed rest ≥4 days, and 3) ≥60 years old. The exclusion criteria were: 1) patients receiving anticoagulants, 2) patients with operation or injury within 3 months prior to bed rest or on ultrasonography, and 3) patients with a diagnosis of VTE at hospitalization. The DVT was determined by ultrasonography. RESULTS: Twenty-five subjects were enrolled from four sites and mean age was 83.1 years (standard deviation 6.8). No patients received mechanical thromboprophylaxis and five patients were taking anti-platelet agent. The prevalence of DVT was 32.0% (8/25). All patients with DVT were asymptomatic, six of them had new thrombi, and three of them had proximal DVT. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that there are a significant number of asymptomatic DVT in Japanese hospitalized patients with acute medical diseases/episodes. This finding should be confirmed by another prospective study with larger number of patients.
