Abstract
Obesity has emerged as a global health issue that is associated with wide spectrum of disorders, including coronary artery disease, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, stroke, and venous thromboembolism (VTE). VTE is one of the most common vascular disorders in the United States and Europe and is associated with significant mortality. Although the association between obesity and VTE appears to be moderate, obesity can interact with other environmental or genetic factors and pose a significantly greater risk of VTE among individuals who are obese and who are exposed simultaneously to several other risk factors for VTE. Therefore, identification of potential interactions between obesity and certain VTE risk factors might offer some critical points for VTE interventions and thus minimize VTE morbidity and mortality among patients who are obese. However, current obesity measurements have limitations and can introduce contradictory results in the outcome of obesity. To overcome these limitations, this review proposes several future directions and suggests some avenues for prevention of VTE associated with obesity as well.
Highlights
Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is the third most common cardiovascular disorder after ischemic heart attack and stroke [1,2]
We focus on the association between obesity and VTE, explore possible interactions between obesity and several other risk factors for VTE, discuss limitations of current obesity measurement, identify possible research gaps, and suggest some avenues for prevention of VTE associated with obesity
A meta-analysis of 1 cohort and 8 case-control studies involving a total of 8125 patients with VTE and 23,272 control patients indicated that likelihood of first spontaneous VTE among people who were obese was more than twice that of individuals with a normal body mass index (BMI) (odds ratio (OR) = 2.33; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.68 - 3.24) [31]
Summary
Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is the third most common cardiovascular disorder after ischemic heart attack and stroke [1,2]. VTE imposes a substantial burden on the US health care system. The initial clinical management, recurrence, and long-term complications of VTE including post-thrombotic syndrome (PTS) and other VTEassociated comorbid conditions compromise quality of life and cost about $2 billion to 10 billion annually to the health care system in the United States [6,7]. While obesity can serve as a risk factor for some diseases, it can affect preexisting diseases or lead to an array of comorbid conditions, including coronary artery disease (CAD), type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension, stroke, heart failure, obstructive sleep apnea syndrome, gastrointestinal disorders, depression, malignancies, and VTE [9,10]. Medical interventions are important, the clinical management of VTE is not in the scope of this review
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