If a clot in an artery breaks free and travels through the circulatory system, it can cause blockages affecting the heart, lungs, and other organs—potentially shutting them down. The results can be deadly. Thrombosis affects up to 900,000 people in the United States per year and kills up to 100,000.
Blood Clots Can Be Deadly
As many as 100,000 people die of blood clots each year.
About 23% of people with PE will die within 3 months of diagnosis, just over 30% will die after 6 months, and there is a 37% mortality (death) rate at 1 year after being diagnosed.
On average, one American dies of a blood clot every 6 minutes. A blood clot in one of the large veins, usually in a person's leg or arm, is called a deep vein thrombosis or DVT.
Blood clots, which form to stop blood loss, typically are nothing to worry about. But that's not always the case. When clots form abnormally, they can cause major health problems -- and even death -- if not caught early.
It takes about 3 to 6 months for a blood clot to go away. During this time, there are things you can do to relieve symptoms. Elevate your leg to reduce swelling.
Important! If you think you have a blood clot, call your doctor or go to the emergency room right away! Blood clots can be dangerous. Blood clots that form in the veins in your legs, arms, and groin can break loose and move to other parts of your body, including your lungs.
Life goes on after you've been diagnosed with a blood clot. While it may take time to recover, there's no reason why you can't continue to live the life you love.
Venous thrombosis is a disease of aging, with a low rate of about 1 per 10,000 annually before the fourth decade of life, rising rapidly after age 45 years, and approaching 5–6 per 1000 annually by age 80 (6).
It's important to raise awareness about blood clots because they are serious medical conditions that can cause illness, disability, and even death. Anyone can be affected, but certain risk factors, such as pregnancy, cancer and its treatment, and hospitalization can increase a person's risk for a blood clot.
Pulmonary embolism (PE) and deep venous thrombosis (DVT) are clinical manifestations of the same entity, venous thromboembolic disease (VTD). In approximately 25% of patients, the first manifestation of PE is sudden-unexpected death.
Typically, your body will naturally dissolve the blood clot after the injury has healed. Sometimes, however, clots form on the inside of vessels without an obvious injury or do not dissolve naturally. These situations can be dangerous and require accurate diagnosis and appropriate treatment.
10% – 30% of people will die within one month of diagnosis. Among people who have had a DVT, one third to one half will have long-term complications (post-thrombotic syndrome) such as swelling, pain, discoloration, and scaling in the affected limb.
Who is at risk for a blood clot? Blood clots can affect anyone at any age, but certain risk factors, such as surgery, hospitalization, pregnancy, cancer and some types of cancer treatments can increase risks. In addition, a family history of blood clots can increase a person's risk.
Take prescribed medications
These include blood thinners, thrombin inhibitors, and thrombolytics. You may want to discuss these medications with a healthcare professional if you have certain risk factors for developing a blood clot.
The primary treatment for DVT and PE is anticoagulation with blood thinners. These medications increase the time it takes for blood to clot. They prevent new clots from forming and existing clots from growing larger. Anticoagulants do not dissolve a clot.
Will you be admitted to the hospital or sent home? If a DVT is confirmed, you may be discharged and sent home with injectable or oral anticoagulant medication (sometimes called a blood thinner). That said, every patient is different, and you may be admitted to the hospital if the ER doctor believes it's necessary.
Ignoring a blood clot or not receiving treatment promptly can lead to serious complications. Symptoms of a blood clot vary depending on where the blood clot forms: Abdomen: stomach discomfort, nausea or vomiting. Arm or leg: pain, swelling, tenderness and warmth that may occur gradually or suddenly.
A blood clot in a leg vein may cause pain, warmth and tenderness in the affected area. Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) occurs when a blood clot (thrombus) forms in one or more of the deep veins in the body, usually in the legs. Deep vein thrombosis can cause leg pain or swelling. Sometimes there are no noticeable symptoms.
1) Constriction of the blood vessel. 2) Formation of a temporary “platelet plug." 3) Activation of the coagulation cascade.
Chest pain or discomfort that gets worse when you breathe deeply or cough. Coughing up blood. Feeling lightheaded or faint. Feeling anxious or sweating.
If the clot is small, it might not cause any symptoms. If it's medium-sized, it can cause chest pain and breathing difficulties. A large clot can cause the lungs to collapse, resulting in heart failure, which can be fatal. About one in 10 people with an untreated DVT develops a severe pulmonary embolism.
Duplex ultrasonography is an imaging test that uses sound waves to look at the flow of blood in the veins. It can detect blockages or blood clots in the deep veins. It is the standard imaging test to diagnose DVT. A D-dimer blood test measures a substance in the blood that is released when a clot breaks up.