Department of Medicine and the Division of Hematology-Oncology - University of North Carolina
BIOGRAPHY
Wednesday, October 13th, 2:00 PM EDT
The Patient with Venous Thrombosis - Practical Points for the Laboratorian and the Clinician
Special World Thrombosis Day webinar
Presented at:
Stago EdVantage Virtual University
Speaker
Abstract
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Diagnosis of deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism, collectively referred to as venous thromboembolism (VTE), identification of VTE risk factors, and best anticoagulation treatment can be straightforward. However, a number of pitfalls in diagnosis and management exist that may lead to misinterpretation of radiological studies and laboratory results, resulting in inappropriate or suboptimal patient treatment. This presentation will highlight 22 clinically relevant teaching points what to consider when taking a patient’s history, performing a medical examination, interpreting radiological and laboratory studies, and making decisions on length of anticoagulation therapy in the patient presenting with symptoms of VTE or having an established diagnosis of VTE.
Learning Objectives
- Understand how DVT and PE are diagnosed and what the pitfalls of diagnosis are
- Understand the Wells score pretest probability assessment and when it is appropriate to use a D-dimer when diagnosing DVT and PE
- Explain what the ‘warfarin hate factor’ and the ‘direct oral anticoagulant hate factor’ are and how they are clinically used
- Discuss the principle of the ‘VTE recurrence triangle’s and how various VTE risk factors influence length of anticoagulation treatment decision making
- Discuss caveats about thrombophilia test results and how acute thrombosis and being on an anticoagulant can lead to false-negative and false-positive thrombophilia test results
- Explain how use of the D-dimer and of thrombophilia results can be used clinically to determine how long a patient with VTE should be treated with anticoagulation