Deep venous thrombosis in peripheral vascular disease.
BACKGROUND
This prospective study aimed to determine the prevalence of lower limb deep venous thrombosis in patients with peripheral vascular disease (PVD).


METHODS
Some 136 patients admitted for arteriography, angioplasty or arterial reconstruction with limiting claudication (n = 72), ischaemic rest pain (n = 26) or gangrene (n = 38) and 40 control subjects admitted for general surgical procedures but without evidence of PVD were screened with colour duplex ultrasonography for the presence of venous thrombosis in the lower limb deep veins before any surgical or radiological procedures were undertaken. Patient age, the ankle : brachial pressure index (ABPI) and the presence of other risk factors for venous thromboembolism were also recorded.


RESULTS
Venous thrombosis was found in 27 of 136 patients with PVD and two of 40 control patients (P = 0.03). Logistic regression analysis demonstrated that decreasing ABPI independently contributed to an increased risk of deep venous thrombosis.


CONCLUSIONS
There was a high prevalence of venous thrombosis among patients with PVD which was related to the severity of the ischaemia. Presented to the South West Vascular Surgeons Meeting in Newport, UK, March 1998
Nuffield Department of Surgery, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, UK.
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D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007511:Ischemia / Q000150:complications; D007866:Leg / Q000098:blood supply*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016491:Peripheral Vascular Diseases / Q000150:complications*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D020246:Venous Thrombosis / Q000209:etiology*