VENOUS OCCLUSION ULTRASOUND AS A SCREENING METHOD IN THE DIAGNOSIS OF THROMBOSES OF THE LEG

The incidence of thromboses in the leg was studied in 542 patients (220 women and 322 men, mean age 61 [15-88] years) in a medical intensive care unit who had routinely undergone ultrasound examinations of the venous system of the legs. Not previously known thromboses were demonstrated in 62 (11.4%) of patients, bilaterally in 27.4% of them. Thromboses were most frequent (28.8%) in patients with malignant disease, rarest (3.7%) in those with myocardial infarction. 45% of thromboses were located solely in the lower leg. Autopsy, performed in 87 of the patients, revealed recent pulmonary emboli in 14. In eight of them venous thrombosis had been diagnosed by ultrasound before death, while the total number of leg vein thromboses identified in the 87 patients was 11.