title: Venous thrombosis in children: an emerging issue.
abstract: More and more cases of venous thrombosis are diagnosed in children thanks to newer imaging modalities. Central venous catheters have become commonplace in the care of critically ill children and have contributed to the increased rate of thrombotic events. Lastly, children who develop life-threatening or chronic medical conditions are surviving longer because of advanced medical therapies; these intensive therapies can be complicated by events such as thrombosis. Over the last 10 years, specific guidelines for treating thrombosis in children have become available. Nevertheless, in many situations anticoagulant treatment is specially tailored to each individual patient's needs. Some new antithrombotic drugs which have undergone clinical testing in adults might be beneficial to paediatric patients with thromboembolic disorders; unfortunately, clinical data and reports on the use of these drugs in children, when available, are extremely limited. The aim of this review is to provide physicians with enough background information to be able to manage thrombosis in children. First, by helping them detect a thrombotic event in a child. Upon confirmation of the diagnosis, the physician will request the appropriate tests and will choose the best treatment on the basis of the guidelines and recommendations. Moreover, the paediatrician will have the information he or she needs to identify which children are at highest risk of acute thrombotic events and relevant long-term sequelae and, therefore, to decide on the appropriate prophylactic or pharmacologic strategy. Lastly, we would like to provide the paediatrician with information on future drugs with regard to the treatment and prophylaxis of thrombosis.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Emato Oncologia, Istituto Giannina Gaslini, Genoa, Italy.
authors.forename: Angelo C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Molinari
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Saracco
authors.forename: Valerio
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Cecinati
authors.forename: Maurizio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Miano
authors.forename: Emilia
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Parodi
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Grassi
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Banov
authors.forename: Domenico
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: De Mattia
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Giordano
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D006801:Humans; D010372:Pediatrics / Q000379:methods*; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D020246:Venous Thrombosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000517:prevention & control