Abstract
From January 1995 to December 2000, 1555 patients (585 males, 970 females, with a
mean age of 52.3 years) with acute limb swelling underwent diagnostic duplex venous
ultrasonagraphy at the Vascular Surgery Unit, Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine,
Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand. Of these 1555 patients, 514
(188 males, 326 females, with a mean age of 53 years) were diagnosed with deep vein
thrombosis (DVT). DVT was found mainly in the lower extremities, occurring in 506
of these 514 cases (98.4%). The affected vein in the lower extremity was found more
commonly in the left side (359 limbs) than in the right side (184 limbs) (p < 0.001). DVT also occurred in the upper extremities in 8 of the 514 cases (1.6%).
In this study, out of 308 patients with DVT in their lower limbs, DVT was associated
with malignancy in 123 cases (39.9%), with postoperation in 48 cases (15.6%), and
with limb immobilization in 38 cases (12.3%). Malignancy-related DVT was found to
be more extensive and virulent and was associated with high morbidity and mortality.
Further study should be conducted to investigate the role of anticoagulant drugs for
the prevention of DVT in cancer patients. Perhaps the spectrum of DVT as presented
in this series is characteristic not only of the Thai population but also of the populations
of other Asian countries.
