Obesity, overweight are risk factors for acute deep vein thrombosis. registry data on 4,439 patients.(Clinical Rounds)

ORLANDO, FLA. -- Look for a steady rise in cases of deep vein thrombosis as among the likely fallout from the burgeoning obesity epidemic.

Overweight and obesity were the most common comorbidities identified in 4,439 patients with ultrasound-confirmed acute deep vein thrombosis from 183 U.S. hospitals who enrolled in the DVT-Free Registry, Dr. Nils Kucher reported at the annual scientific sessions of the American Heart Association.

Of the participants in DVT-Free, 31% were overweight (body mass index of 25-29.9 kg/[m.sup.2]) and another 34% were obese, said Dr. Kucher of Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston.

Mean age at the time of DVT was progressively younger with increasing body mass index (BMI). For example, overweight patients with DVT averaged 66 years of age, declining to a mean of 62 years among those having a BMI of 30-34.9 kg/[m.sup.2] and 58 years in those whose BMI was higher.

Women were far more likely than men with DVT to be either morbidly obese or lean. Women comprised 64% of patients with DVT who had a BMI in excess of 35, and 62% of those having a BMI of 20 kg/[m.sup.2] or less.

Several risk factors were significantly more common in overweight and obese patients with DVT. A personal history of DVT was present in 24% of such patients, ...