Prevalence of deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism in patients with superficial vein thrombosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Some studies suggest that patients with superficial vein thrombosis (SVT) have a non-negligible risk of concomitant deep vein thrombosis (DVT) or pulmonary embolism (PE) at the time of SVT diagnosis.

In effect, a number of risk factors, including advanced age, obesity, active cancer, previous thromboembolic episodes, pregnancy, oral contraceptives and hormone replacement therapy, as well as recent surgery and auto-immune diseases, are common to both DVT/PE and to SVT. Unfortunately, available data on this association are widely variable.

A systematic review and meta-analysis was performed by pooling together data from 22 studies, providing an aggregate estimation of the prevalence of concomitant DVT/PE in a total of more than 4,300 patients with SVT of the lower limbs. The results suggest that at the time of SVT diagnosis, in 18% of patients also DVT is present, and in 7% of patient also PE is present.

Reference

Di Minno MN, Ambrosino P. Ambrosini F, Tremoli E, Minno GD, Dentali F. Prevalence of deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism in patients with superficial vein thrombosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Thromb Haemost. 2016 Feb 4. doi: 10.1111/jth.13279. [Epub ahead of print] Go to PubMed abstract