Incidence of upper extremity thrombosis in pulmonary thromboembolism

Objectives: Venous thromboembolis is a clinical condition that often occurs from deep vein thrombosis of lower extremity. The incidence of deep venous thrombosis in the etiology of pulmonary thromboembolism may be as high as 90%. Doppler ultrasonography of lower extremities is recommended generally to determinate the etiology of pulmonary thromboembolism. The aim of this study is to present the importance of upper extremity thrombosis in pulmonary thromboembolism. Materials and Methods: Between 20102012, 236 patientsfollowed with the diagnosis of pulmonary thromboembolism were included in the study. Lower and upper extremity doppler examination was performed to all patients to determinate the cause. Results: The mean age of patients is 64,7± 16,9 (2295); 56,8% (134) were female, 43,2% (102) were men. According to the classification of pulmonary thromboembolism , 37 (15,7%) patients had massive, 103 (43,6%) patients had submassive, 96 (40,7%) patients had nonmassive embolism. Lower extremity deep venous thrombosis was detected in 109 (46,2%) patients, both lower and upper extremity in 10 (4,2%) patients and only upper extremity in 20 (8,4%) patients. Eventually, deep venous thrombosis was detected in 129 (54,6%) patients. Thrombosis of the upper extremity was detected in 20 (16,8%) patients. Conclusions: Upper extremity thrombosis has been found as important as lower extremity thrombosis in the etiology of venous thromboembolism. Upper extremity thrombosis does not always occur in patients with malignancy or central venous catheters It should be kept in mind that, in hospitalized patients with peripheral vascular vein catheter, the upper extremity thrombosis may also occur.