Approach to Hypercoagulable Disorders

Category

Features

Classification of venous thromboembolism

•  Deep vein thrombosis (DVT)
  •  Typically develops in lower extremity
•  Pulmonary embolism (PE)
  •  Usually due to DVT propagating to lung

Terminology

•  Unprovoked DVT
  •  No identifiable etiology or inciting event
•  Provoked DVT
  •  Due to a known cause or inciting event
•  Proximal DVT
  •  Typically in popliteal, femoral, or iliac veins
•  Distal DVT
  •  Usually below the knee in calf veins
    •  Peroneal
    •  Posterior
    •  Anterior tibial
    •  Muscular veins
•  PE
  •  located in the main, segmental, or subsegmental branches of pulmonary arteries

Pathogenesis

•  Altered blood constituents (eg, hypercoagulable state)
•  Altered blood flow (eg, stasis)
•  Vascular endothelial injury