A Clearinghouse for Information about Blood Clots (DVT/)PE) and Clotting Disorders (thrombophilia) provided as a public service by the University of North Carolina Blood Research Center

Category: Venous clots

  • HHT

    What is HHT? HHT (Hereditary Hemorrhagic Teleangiectasia) is an inherited disorder in which small blood vessels develop abnormally [ref 1].  It is also called Osler-Weber-Rendu syndrome. It is estimated that 30,000 to 60,000 people (1 out every 5,000 to 10,000) in the United States have it. Individuals with HHT develop small abnormal blood vessels (teleangiectasias)…

  • Acute Proximal DVT – Offering Patients Enrollment into ATTRACT Trial

    If you as a health care professional are involved in the management of patients with acute (proximal) DVT, please consider giving the patient (who has leg symptoms ≤ 14 days) an opportunity to be enrolled in the national ATTRACT trial (information on the trial is here). This NIH-funded, multi-center trial investigates whether catheter-directed thrombectomy (±…

  • New DVT – Optimizing Treatment – ATTRACT Trial

    If you or somebody you know has been diagnosed in the last 14 days with a new DVT of the leg (thigh or pelvic veins), I would encourage you to consider participation in the ATTRACT trial – a solid, clinically useful study (NIH funded) that investigates how to minimize the long-term complications after a blood clot –…

  • PFO = Patent Foramen Ovale

    Anatomy Some people have a “hole in the heart”, called a “patent foramen ovale” (PFO). This is a connection between the right and the left chamber (atrium) of the heart. We are all born with it – the unborn needs this connection for proper blood circulation. In most people the hole closes in the first…

  • DVT and PE: Symptoms and Risk Factors

    A detailed discussion of the symptoms of and risk factors for DVT and PE, written for patients, is available on the Clot Connect Patient blog- connect here. We hope that the health care professional will find this document suitable to be printed out as a handout for patients and their family members whom they want…

  • Cerebral Venous Thrombosis

    Stephan Moll, MD writes… 2011 Consensus Statement A superb, comprehensive and thoughtful expert summary was published for health care professionals in February 2011 [ref 1]. It gives a wealth of solid recommendations on diagnosis and treatment.

  • Symptoms of DVT and PE

    DVT (Deep Vein Thrombosis) A DVT is a blood clot that most commonly occurs in the leg, typically only one leg (image 1). However, occasionally it occurs in both legs at the same time (=bilateral DVT). Sometimes, a DVT is in the pelvic veins or the big abdominal vein (=inferior vena cava). And some DVTs…

  • Sinus and Cerebral Vein Thrombosis

    Summary Sinus and cerebral vein clots are uncommon. They can lead to severe headaches, confusion, and stroke-like symptoms. They may lead to bleeding into the surrounding brain tissues. The clot can be triggered by infections of the ear, face, or neck, by estrogen use and pregnancy, and can be caused by inherited and acquired clotting…