Long-term outcomes of venous thrombosis in children

Purpose of review Venous thromboembolism has become an increasingly recognized clinical in children over the past decade. Recently, important efforts have been made to track post thrombotic outcomes. The present review discusses the knowledge gained from seminal studies in the field over the past decade, with particular emphasis on the findings of numerous published reports on outcomes of various types of venous thromboembolism in the pediatric literature from January 2003 to January 2005. Recent findings Large cohort studies involving acute venous thromboembolism of all types in children have recently confirmed a rather low frequency of recurrent venous thromboembolism, but have shown a lack of thrombus resolution following standard-duration anticoagulatant therapy in as many as 50% of patients. In addition, the development of the post thrombic syndrome has been demonstrated in greater than one third of children with venous thromboembolism involving the extremities. Persistent thrombosis despite adequate anticoagulation has been independently associated with complete vaso-occlusion at diagnosis. Furthermore, the presence of elevated levles of factor VIII and D-dimer either at diagnosis or following three to six months anticoagulation has now been defined as predator of adverse long-term outcomes of pediatric thrombosis. Summary This body of work indicates that the various forms of venous thromboembolism in children are in general associated with a considerable degree of adverse outcomes, particularly in the form of venous thromboembolism-related mortality, recurrent thromboembolism, and development of post thrombotic outcomes havae begun, and must continue to facilitate a risk-stratified approach to antithrombotic management in children, and to ultimately achieve meaningful improvements in long-term outcomes.