title: Thrombosis: a major contributor to global disease burden.
abstract: Thrombosis is a common pathology underlying ischemic heart disease, ischemic stroke, and venous thromboembolism (VTE). The Global Burden of Disease Study 2010 (GBD 2010) documented that ischemic heart disease and stroke collectively caused one in four deaths worldwide. GBD 2010 did not report data for VTE as a cause of death and disability. We performed a systematic review of the literature on the global disease burden due to VTE in low-, middle-, and high-income countries. Studies from Western Europe, North America, Australia, and Southern Latin America (Argentina) yielded consistent results with annual incidences ranging from 0.75 to 2.69 per 1,000 individuals in the population. The incidence increased to between 2 and 7 per 1,000 among those 70 years of age or more. Although the incidence is lower in individuals of Chinese and Korean ethnicity, their disease burden is not low because of population aging. VTE associated with hospitalization was the leading cause of disability-adjusted-life-years (DALYs) lost in low- and middle-income countries, and second in high-income countries, responsible for more DALYs lost than nosocomial pneumonia, catheter-related blood stream infections, and adverse drug events. VTE causes a major burden of disease across low-, middle-, and high-income countries. More detailed data on the global burden of VTE should be obtained to inform policy and resource allocation in health systems, and to evaluate if improved utilization of preventive measures will reduce the burden.
authors.affiliation: College of Public Health, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
authors.forename: Gary E
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Raskob
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand.
authors.forename: Pantep
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Angchaisuksiri
authors.affiliation: Division of Hemostasia, Academia Nacional de Medicina, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Alicia N
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Blanco
authors.affiliation: Department of Vascular Medicine, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Harry
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Büller
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology, SA Pathology, Flinders Medical Center, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gallus
authors.affiliation: Thrombosis and Thrombophilia Centre, Guy's and St Thomas NHS Foundation Trust, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Beverley J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Hunt
authors.affiliation: Section of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Elaine M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Hylek
authors.affiliation: Thrombosis Research Institute, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: The Lord
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Kakkar
authors.affiliation: Center for Thrombosis and Hemostasis, University Medical Center, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: Stavros V
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: Konstantinides
authors.affiliation: College of Public Health, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
authors.forename: Micah
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: McCumber
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of Yamanashi, Yamanashi, Japan.
authors.forename: Yukio
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ozaki
authors.affiliation: College of Public Health, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
authors.forename: Aaron
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wendelboe
authors.affiliation: Thrombosis and Atherosclerosis Research Institute, and McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Jeffrey I
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Weitz