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(Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology. 2008;28:370.)
© 2008 American Heart Association, Inc.

Venous Thromboembolism: Mechanisms, Treatment and Public Awareness

The Epidemiology of Venous Thromboembolism in the Community

John A. Heit

From the Divisions of Cardiovascular Diseases (Section of Vascular Diseases) and Hematology (Section of Hematology Research), Department of Internal Medicine; and the Divisions of Hematopathology and Laboratory Genetics, Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology; Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota.

Correspondence to Dr John A. Heit, Hematology Research, Stabile 660, Mayo Clinic, 200 First Street SW, Rochester, MN 55905. E-mail heit.john@mayo.edu

An extract of the first 250 words of the full text is provided, because this article has no abstract.

	Introduction

 
Venous thromboembolism is a major health problem. The average annual incidence of venous thromboembolism among Whites is 108 per 100 000 person-years,^1,2 with about 250 000 incident cases occurring annually among US whites. The incidence appears to be similar or higher among Blacks and lower among Asian- and Native-Americans.^3,4 Adjusting for the different age and sex distribution of African-Americans, the venous thromboembolism incidence is about 78 per 100 000, suggesting that about 27 000 incident venous thromboembolism cases occur annually among US Blacks. Recent modeling suggests that more than 900 000 incident or recurrent, fatal and nonfatal VTE events occur in the US annually.⁵ The incidence of venous thromboembolism has not changed significantly over the last 25 years.²

Venous thromboembolism is predominantly a disease of older age.^1,2,6 Incidence rates increase exponentially with age for both men and women and for both deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism.^1,2,6 The overall age-adjusted incidence rate is higher for men (114 per 100 000) then women (105 per 100 000; male:female sex ratio is 1.2:1).^1,2 Incidence rates are somewhat higher in women during the childbearing years, whereas incidence rates after age 45 years are generally higher in men. Pulmonary embolism accounts for an increasing proportion of venous thromboembolism with increasing age for both genders.¹

	Survival After Deep Vein Thrombosis and Pulmonary Embolism

 
Observed survival after venous thromboembolism is significantly worse than expected survival for age and gender, and survival after pulmonary embolism is much worse than after deep vein thrombosis alone.^7,8 The risk of early death among patients with symptomatic pulmonary embolism . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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