Study On Acute Deep Venous Thrombosis (DVT) Oflower Limb

Objective To evaluate the superiorty in diagnosing DVT between venography and duplex ultrasound, and the effevtiveness of C-reactive protein (CRP) as a biomarker.Methods From 2006 to 2008, 77 patients with acute DVT proximal to the knee joint were admitted. The interval between the onset of DVT and admission was 1-21 days. They were treated mainly with urokinase and low molecular weight heparin for 2 weeks. The assessment of each patient included clinical examination, venography, duplex ultrasound and serum highly sensitive C-reactive protein (hsCRP) immediately after admission and 4 weeks after discharge.Results After medical therapy for 2 weeks, the clinical features prominently subsided in 49 patients, improved in 23 and no amelioration in 5. Four weeks after discharge, venography showed clot regression in 15 patients and in the remaining 62 patients the occluded venous lumen were not visualized, while duplex ultrasound showed partial lysis of the thrombosis. At admission, the hsCRP was 28.91±29.4mg/L, and it dropped to 8.13±12.7mg/L at 4 weeks after discharge.Conclusions Duplex ultrasound is superior to venography in the assessment of DVT. The inflammatory biomarker of hsCRP was related to the severity of DVT, showing a positive relationship to the final outcome of DVT as a guide line for the management of DVT and PTS.