Frequency of hereditary thrombophilia: an AKUH experience.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the frequency of various causes of hereditary thrombophilia at a referral laboratory and the age and gender distribution.


METHODS
This is a descriptive study incorporating a retrospective analysis of requests for thrombophilia screening sent to Clinical laboratory, Aga Khan University Hospital from November 1995 to May 2002. Patients were screened for hereditary causes of thrombophilia including Protein C, Protein S, antithrombin III, Factor V Leiden and homocysteine. Frequency of each disorder; and age and sex distribution was determined.


RESULTS
All the patients suspected clinically for thrombophilia were screened. Of the 2825 patients, 70 were diagnosed to have inheritance as a cause of thrombophilia with a frequency of 2.3% for protein C deficiency, 1.4% for protein S deficiency, 1.5% for antithrombin III deficiency, 14.2% for factor V leiden mutation and 2.0% for homocystenemia.


CONCLUSIONS
All the causes of hereditary thrombophilia can be diagnosed by relatively simple laboratory methods, however because of the low frequency of these disorders the screening of general population is not indicated in the absence of clinical symptoms. More prospective studies are required to define the occurrence of these disorders and other causes of thrombosis.
Department of Pathology, The Aga Khan University, Karachi.
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Khalid
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Sajid
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Adil
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Khurshid
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D030342:Genetic Diseases, Inborn / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010154:Pakistan / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D017678:Sex Distribution; D019851:Thrombophilia / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000235:genetics*