Quality of life after deep venous thrombosis

Introduction. Little is known about the impact of the posthrombotic syndrome (PTS) on the quality of life (QoL) of patients after deep vein thrombosis (DVT). Objective. The aims of this study were to analyze the long-term QoL after DVT and to examine whether QoL correlates with the severity of PTS. Material and methods. Patients with previous symptomatic, unilateral, and a first episode of DVT were enrolled in this study. After 5 years of follow-up, the venous disease was related to pathological severity of PTS according to the scale of Villalta. All patients then completed a generic (EuroQol) and a disease-specific one for venous insufficiency (CIVIQ) questionnaires. The analysis of results was blinded to clinical details of the patients. Results. Of the 165 patients initially recruited, 100 patients completed the follow-up and completed the QoL assessment at 5 years. Despite the regular use of compression stockings the incidence of PTS was 65 %: 35 asymptomatic, 41 with moderate-PTS, and 24 with severe-PTS. The mean QoL with the EuroQol and the CIVIQ was 91.5 % and 89.46 % in absent-PTS; 85.9 % and 74.43 % in moderate-PTS; and 58.2 % and 49.82 % in severe-PTS, respectively. The EuroQol only showed significant differences when the PTS was severe, while the CIVIQ was useful to detect differences among the different subgroups. These scores worsened significantly with increasing severity of PTS (r = 0.601). Conclusions. Patients with DVT in whom PTS develops have a worse QoL than those without PTS. Patient-based QoL measures correlated well with the severity of PTS. (C) 2010 SEACV. Published by Elsevier Espana, S. L. All rights reserved.