Background: Blood flow stasis, an alteration in the coagulation process or endothelium injury the most common mechanisms involved in venous thromboembolic diseases (TED) and constitute the so-called hypercoagulable states (HS). The HS have been classified into two groups: primary and secondary and several of them can be measured. Our purpose was to investigate the prevalence in Spain of measurable HS in patients with venous TED and to know the clinical picture of pulmonary embolism in these patients.
Patients and method: Sixty of 175 consecutive patients diagnosed with deep venous thrombosis and pulmonary embolism fulfilled criteria to study a HS. The study was performed 1 month after anticoagulant therapy was finished.
Results: Seventeen (28%) of the 60 patients had one HS that was a primary disorder in 14 and a secondary one in 3. The increase of PAI-1 level was the most common; recurrence of thrombotic events and familial history were frequent in these selected patients.
Conclusions: The prevalence of hypercoagulable states in venous thromboembolic disease was high in this series. The clinical picture was similar to those to be expected and PAI-1 was the most frequent marker of hypercoagulable states.