Clinical analysis of 16 cases of venous thromboembolism in pregnancy and puerperium

Abstract

Objective To investigate the high risk factors,etiology,diagnosis,treatment and precaution of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in pregnancy and puerperium. Methods Data of 16 cases of VTE admitted in Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology,Peking Union Medical College Hospital from January 1992 to April 2011 were analyzed retrospectively.The differences of blood routine test and coagulation function between VTE patients (study group) and normal pregnant women (control group) were compared by paired t test in this case-control study. Results All patients were diagnosed by color Doppler ultrasound or CT pulmonary artery angiography.Five cases (31.2 ％) occurred before delivery and 11 (68.8 ％) occurred during postpartum.Two cases (12.5 ％)complicated by pulmonary thromboembolism,and one of them died.Six cases (37.5％) were older than or equal to 35 years old,and 12 cases (75.0％) had gestational complications.The hematocrit in study group were lower than that in control group (0.29±0.06 vs 0.39±0.02,t=4.56,P=0.01).There was no statistical difference between the coagulation function of the two groups.After anticoagulant therapy or surgery,15 cases recovered.One pulmonary thromboembolism patients complicated with rheumatic cardiac disease remained shock after anti-coagulants was administered,then died of hemorrhage of respiratory tract after inferior vena cava filter placement. Conclusions VTE is likcly to happen in puerperium than in pregnancy.There are no good screening indicators for thromboembolism during pregnancy and puerperium.Anticoagulation is recommended to be the first line therapy.For women with high risk of thromboembolism,it is suggested to prevent actively and treat early to decrease the complications and long-term sequelea. Key words: Venous thromboembolism; Pregnancy complications; Postpartum period