Abstract Number: PB0042
Meeting: ISTH 2020 Congress
Theme: Arterial Thromboembolism » Atherosclerosis
Background: Several studies have been describing a link between venous and arterial thrombosis, particularly patients with spontaneous VTE have been found to have a higher prevalence of atherosclerosis than patients with secondary VTE. Moreover, VTE and cardiovascular disorders seem to share common risk factors.
Aims: To evaluate patients with isolated distal venous thrombosis who were often excluded from the previous studies. While it is still debating whether to anticoagulate these patients or not, if this condition is related to a higher risk of atherosclerosis is unknown.
Methods: We assessed the ultrasonography of the carotid arteries and the ankle-brachial index (ABI) measurement in 116 patients who had deep venous distal or proximal thrombosis of the legs without symptomatic atherosclerosis and in 57 control subjects. Each group has been assessed for plaques, intima-media thickness (IMT) and ABI.
Results: The mean intima-media thickness of the common carotid arteries was 1.00 ± 0.20 mm in patients with distal spontaneous thrombosis, 0.98 ± 0.16 in those with proximal spontaneous thrombosis, and 0.88 ± 0.15 in the control subjects.
Patients with a distal spontaneous thrombotic history showed an abnormal mean IMT (> 0.9mm) compared to the controls (odds ratio 2.22; 95 percent confidence interval 1.04 to 4.74; P=0.0374), similar results for the comparison between the proximal spontaneous thrombosis and the controls (odds ratio 2.75; 95 percent confidence interval 1.28 to 5.91; P=0.009). When taking into account the presence of carotidal plaques or a pathologic ABI we found an higher prevalence in patients with a history of thrombosis, regardless whether distal or proximal, even though not statistical significant.
Conclusions: There is an association between spontaneous venous thrombosis and atherosclerotic disease, even in case of a distal isolated thrombosis. Despite the debated indication for anticoagulation in these patients, it could be reasonable to assess their cardiovascular risk factors.
To cite this abstract in AMA style:
Adamo A, Spiezia L, Dalla Valle F, Avruscio G, Simioni P. Relationship between Distal Venous Thrombosis and Asymptomatic Atherosclerotic Disease [abstract]. Res Pract Thromb Haemost. 2020; 4 (Suppl 1). https://abstracts.isth.org/abstract/relationship-between-distal-venous-thrombosis-and-asymptomatic-atherosclerotic-disease/. Accessed December 10, 2023.« Back to ISTH 2020 Congress
ISTH Congress Abstracts - https://abstracts.isth.org/abstract/relationship-between-distal-venous-thrombosis-and-asymptomatic-atherosclerotic-disease/