Cardiovascular

Cardiovascular Disease

Thrombosis is the formation or presence of a blood clot inside a blood vessel or in a chamber of the heart. The formation of a blood clot is induced by the clumping of blood platelets followed by the formation of a fibrin network.

Deep Vein Thrombosis

Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) has multiple causes, including low blood flow conditions due to immobility or injury to blood vessels, which can occur during surgery. DVT usually takes place in the deep veins of the leg or pelvis. Without anticoagulation, DVT occurs in 40% to 80% of patients who have total knee or hip replacement surgery. DVT affects approximately 0.2% of the population, mostly adults aged over 60 years.

Pulmonary Embolism

A clot may also block blood vessels in the lung, where it is called a pulmonary embolism (PE). It mostly comes from DVT, where a clot breaks off and floats as an embolus with the blood up to the lung and blocks an artery, causing damage to the lung and possibly other organs due to insufficient oxygenation of the blood. In the United States, PE is the third most common cause of death, with at least 650,000 cases annually.

DVT often leads to PE; therefore, the two conditions coexist and share the same causal factors and underlying mechanisms. Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is the term used to refer collectively to DVT and PE.

Stroke and Myocardial Infarction

Thrombosis and embolization may also occur in a heart chamber, particularly in patients with atrial fibrillation, a heart rhythm disturbance, or other parts of the vasculature, where it may cause stroke or myocardial infarction.