For Release: October 27, 1997
Contact:
Jim Augustine (703) 644-6824
Mike White (703) 739-1363
Press Room (as of 10-26-97); (504) 670-6615
STUDY LINKS BLOOD CLOTS TO EXTENDED TRAVEL
New Orleans - French investigators reported the first case-controlled study
linking extended travel with deep vein thrombosis. Their report was
presented today at the annual scientific meeting of the American College of
Chest Physicians.
Deep vein thrombosis is generall caused by a sluggish blood flow through a
part of the body, often the legs, combined with some factor that increases
the tendency of blood to clot. Observational studies have suggested that
extended travel when a persons sits or lies for a long period of time can
contribue to this condition.
Dr. Emile Ferrari and colleagues at Pasteur Hospital in Nice, France
studied 160 patients with documented deep vein thrombosis and compared
their recent travel histories with those of a control group. Of those with
deep vein thrombosis, 48 had made a recent journey. In the control group,
only 16 of the 160 individuals had recent travel hisotires. The location
of blood clots in patients did not differ between those who had travelled
recently and those who did not. Also, evaluation of malignancies or
thrombotic disorders did not reveal any concomitant risk factors in those
patients with recent travel histories.
The investigators concluded that extended travel is a real risk factor for
deep vein thrombosis and that such travel seems to be sufficient cause to
produce the disease.
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