Deep Vein Thrombosis Causes, Symptoms, Treatment
– The Amino Company

Blood clots are clumps of blood that have changed from a liquid to a gel-like or semisolid state. They are beneficial in stopping bleeding and preventing people from losing too much blood when they are injured or cut. Blood clotting in the leg is the most common scenario.

When a clot forms inside one of the veins, it may not dissolve on its own, creating a potentially dangerous and even life-threatening situation. While an immobile blood clot is usually harmless, it can break free, travel through the veins to the heart and lungs, get stuck, and prevent blood flow, creating a medical emergency. A health care professional needs to look at the symptoms and medical history and determine an appropriate course of action.

Differences in Artery Clots and Vein Clots

The circulatory system contains veins and arteries that carry blood throughout the body. Blood clots can develop in both these types of vessels.

A blood clot that forms in an artery is called an arterial clot. It causes immediate symptoms, such as severe pain, paralysis of parts of the body (or both), and requires emergency treatment to prevent a heart attack or stroke.

A blood clot that forms in a vein is called a venous clot. While these clots usually build up more slowly over time, they can be life-threatening.

Deep vein thrombosis (DVT), the most serious type of venous clot, forms in one of the major veins deep inside the body. It can happen in a leg, typically the lower leg, an arm, the pelvis, lungs, or brain. It can then travel through the bloodstream and become lodged in the lungs, a condition called pulmonary embolism (PE). Collectively DVT and PE are known as venous thromboembolism (VTE), a potentially fatal medical condition.

Injuries and problems inside blood vessels can lead the body to form blood clots. They develop when a mass forms as a result of plasma proteins and platelets coagulate.

At such time as these clots develop, it is possible that they will migrate elsewhere in the body, triggering harmful reactions. Such is the case with deep vein thrombosis (DVT) when it travels to the lungs and sparks pulmonary embolism (PE). According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), DVT and PE impact as many as 900,000 Americans annually. About 100,000 Americans die from these conditions every year.

Knowing the most common symptoms and risk factors and seeking medical advice in a timely manner can help save your life or the life of a loved one. Unfortunately, blood clots may not manifest any symptoms, or the symptoms can mimic those of other diseases. Nonetheless, it is important to get medical attention if symptoms do appear. The chance of having a blood clot increases if the symptoms are isolated on one leg or one arm.

Deep Vein Thrombosis Causes

Certain risk factors increase the probability of having a blood clot. If a person has a recent hospital stay, especially a long one or one related to a major surgery, the risk of blood clots is much higher. Moderate risk factors include age, especially for people over 65; long trips, especially when sitting for more than 4 hours at a time; bed rest or being inactive for long periods of time; obesity; pregnancy; smoking; birth control pills; and a family history of blood clots.

Some forms of cancer increase the risk of a blood clot fourfold. Chemotherapy increases the risk as much as six times.

Symptoms of DVT

Diagnosing a blood clot by symptoms alone is very difficult. According to the CDC, nearly 50% of people with a blood clot in the leg (or deep vein thrombosis) have no symptoms. While an asymptomatic blood clot is usually a sign that the thrombosis has not yet reached a serious stage, this may not be the case. Even large blood clots needing immediate medical attention can sometimes cause no symptoms at all until the clot dislodges and travels through the bloodstream.

Let’s take a more detailed look at some symptoms of blood clots.

Skin Discoloration

Because of dense collections of blood under the skin surface, discoloration is one of the first warning signs of clot formation in a vein. When deep vein thrombosis skin redness persists over time or intensifies, it is time to seek medical attention.

Painful Swelling

When a blood clot forms, the clot site may swell up. This is particularly likely if the clot is in the calf, ankle, or leg. Because these areas have greater bone and tissue densities, it is harder for the body to clear a clot that is already forming. Swelling from a clot does not respond to treatments such as hot or cold compresses. It also becomes intense and happens without external injury to the affected area.

Skin Warmth

In blood clots in the leg, the skin near the area becomes warm to the touch. Sometimes, there is a persistent feeling of heat or tingling in the localized area.

Pain at the Blood Clot Area

Blood clots may bring on itchiness and throbbing that increase over time if not treated.

Dizziness

Fainting and dizzy spells are evidence that the body cannot dissolve the blood clot naturally or that the blood clot is migrating toward the lungs. There may be labored breathing as well.

Fatigue

When the leg clot gets bigger, the body will try to remove it. Vital organs, such as the heart, will work and pump harder, resulting in an accelerated heartbeat. If the blood clot leaves the leg, there could also be acute, stabbing chest pains that worsen with deep breathing. Increased heart rate can also trigger anxiety and panic attacks. Because the body’s defense systems are working extremely hard, there may be fatigue or exhaustion. Fatigue can be nonspecific and have no apparent cause.

Fever

A mild or low-grade fever can be the result of a blood clot breaking free and entering the bloodstream. There may also be sweating or shivering, an intense headache, body weakness, dehydration, and decreased appetite. As a result of a very high fever between 103 and 106 degrees, one might experience irritability, mood swings, confusion, convulsions, and hallucinations.

Distended Veins

Sometimes the skin surrounding the clot is tender to the touch with no evidence of bruising. Veins may become visible, but that usually happens when the blood clot becomes fairly large. Some blood clots manifest as distended veins near the area where they are developing. Most distended veins will not present complications, but a blood clot that is putting great pressure on surrounding blood vessels can cause internal ruptures.

Foot or Leg Pain

Deep vein thrombosis can cause foot pain. Because the blood clot in the leg is restricting blood flow, the tissues in the feet are being deprived of oxygen. Deep vein thrombosis leg pain can manifest as calf pain that might be mistaken for a muscle cramp. Deep vein thrombosis leg pain is most acute when a person is walking, bending, or flexing the foot upward.

Pale Foot or Ankle

Blood clots can also make the foot or the ankle pale because of decreased blood flow. These areas may turn blue and feel cold.

Coughing

A persistent, but unexplained cough can signal a pulmonary embolism when the blood clot has detached and migrated to the lungs. The cough may be dry, and it is sometimes accompanied by mucus or blood discharge.

Chest Pain

A pulmonary embolism can cause chest pain that feels like a heart attack. It may also cause shortness of breath.

Tests for DVT

Tests rule out other problems or confirm the diagnosis of DVT.

• Duplex ultrasound: For this noninvasive and painless DVT test, the doctor spreads warm gel on the skin and rubs a sensor over the area where the clot might be. The sensor sends sound waves into the body, relays the echoes to a computer, and obtains pictures of blood vessels and blood clots.
• Venography: This is a special X-ray in which the doctor injects a radioactive dye into a vein on the top of the foot to enable the visualization of veins and clots. It could cause more blood clots.
• Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI): MRI uses radio waves and a strong magnetic field to create detailed pictures of the inside of the body on a computer. MRI can find DVT in the pelvis and thigh, as well as provide imaging for both legs at the same time.

Deep Vein Thrombosis Treatment

DVT is treated with blood thinners and compression stockings. Graduated compression stockings help to increase blood flow in the legs and reduce swelling. Blood thinners prevent clotting, but can cause serious bleeding. They can be stopped without any change in dose, and their effect lasts for several days. People are likely to need preventive blood thinners and compression stockings during a hospital stay.

Moderate exercise such as walking or swimming is recommended for post-DVT therapy. A return to one’s normal exercise routine depends on the physical condition before the clot and the severity and location of the clots. Exercise boosts circulation, lowers symptoms of venous insufficiency, and usually invigorates people. Aerobic exercise can bolster lung function after a pulmonary embolism.

Deep Vein Thrombosis Prevention

To help prevent deep vein thrombosis, avoid sitting for long periods of 2 hours or more. Take breaks and get up and walk to keep blood moving. During long-distance airplane travel, sit in seats that allow you to get up periodically and walk the aisle. For long car trips, stop and walk around frequently. Crossing one’s legs also interferes with circulation.

It is important to drink fluids when traveling, and all the time. Dehydration can lead to DVT.

Lifestyle changes can prevent blood clots. People can help themselves by losing weight, reducing high blood pressure, stopping smoking, and exercising regularly. Experts also recommend essential amino acids as a nutritional intervention to support healthy blood flow and help preserve heart strength and function.

Blood clot risk increases early after hemorrhagic fever onset

This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.

Source/Disclosures

Published by:

Source:

Connolly-Andersen AM, et al. Clin Infect Dis. 2017:doi:10.1093/cid/cix777.

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The risk for venous thromboembolism significantly increases soon after the onset of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome, according to researchers.

The same is true for two morbidities related to venous thromboembolism (VTE) — deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism — they wrote in Clinical Infectious Diseases.

“We show a significant but transient association between venous thromboembolism and hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS),” researcher Anne-Marie Connolly-Andersen, PhD, of the department of clinical microbiology’s unit of infectious diseases at Umea University in Sweden, and colleagues wrote.

They cited previous research indicating that thromboprophylaxis in at-risk patients decreases VTE.

“Our study raises the question of whether some patients with HFRS, and possibly other viral hemorrhagic fevers, could potentially benefit from similar thromboprophylaxis in the short-term period,” they added.

HFRS is caused by hantaviruses, which are transmitted from infected rodents or from their urine, feces or saliva. It has been a notifiable disease in Sweden since 1997.

In their study, Connolly-Andersen and colleagues assessed records from 7,244 patients with reported HFRS in the Scandinavian nation between 1997 and 2014. Of those patients, 146 had a first VTE. Seventy-four patients had deep vein thrombosis and 78 had pulmonary embolism.

Overall, the greatest risk for VTE came in the first 2 weeks after HFRS onset (IRR = 64.3; 95% CI, 36.3-114). The risk sharply decreased afterward and was much lower by weeks 27 to 52 after HFRS onset (IRR = 1.6; 95% CI, 0.6-3.9).

The same held true for deep vein thrombosis for which the risk was highest in weeks 1 and 2 (IRR = 45.9; 95% CI, 18-117.1) and lowest at weeks 27 to 52 (IRR = 3.2; 95% CI, 1.3-8.1).

The researchers did not have data on pulmonary embolism in the latest set of weeks, but the trend continued with the greatest risk in the first 2 weeks (IRR = 76. 8; 95% CI, 37.1-159) and the lowest risk in weeks 13 to 26 (IRR = 1.2; 95% CI, 0.2-8.6).

Women had a significantly higher risk for all three morbidities compared with men in the first 4 weeks after HFRS onset (IRR = 61.1; 95% CI, 31.3-119.4 vs. IRR = 29.7; 95% CI, 13.3-66.5 for venous thromboembolism; IRR = 60.3; 95% CI, 23.3-155.8 vs. IRR = 7.9; 95% CI, 1.1-59 for deep vein thrombosis; and IRR = 71.7; 95% CI, 28.3-181.4 vs. IRR = 48.5; 95% CI, 19.5-120.8 for pulmonary embolism). – by Joe Green

Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.

Coughing up blood

Tuberculosis

Bronchitis

Pneumonia

Chills

Shortness of breath

Worms

Myocardial infarction

Myocarditis

Cancer

4094

February, 15

Cough with blood – the causes of occurrence, in which diseases it occurs, diagnosis and methods of treatment.

Cough is one of the most common symptoms of respiratory diseases.

But if the cough is accompanied by the separation of not ordinary sputum, but with streaks and even blood clots, this is an alarming signal that may indicate a serious illness.

To denote the release of blood from the respiratory organs, a special term was introduced – hemoptysis. The volume of blood excreted with sputum varies: it can be single streaks of blood to massive bleeding. The development of bleeding is accompanied by shortness of breath, pain, a feeling of warmth or burning in the chest.

It should be remembered that, regardless of the amount of blood in the sputum, hemoptysis is a dangerous condition and requires seeking medical help to identify and eliminate the causes that led to the appearance of this symptom.

Types of hemoptysis

It is important to distinguish between true and false hemoptysis.

True hemoptysis occurs when blood flows out of the vessels of the respiratory system. In this case, blood can mix with sputum and saliva.

False hemoptysis occurs when blood enters the respiratory organs from other organs, for example, from the stomach during gastric bleeding or from damaged vessels of the oral cavity.

Causes of hemoptysis

In most cases, pathological changes in the vessels of the bronchi and lungs become the cause of hemoptysis.

Of great importance is pulmonary tuberculosis and its complications. Mycobacterium tuberculosis in the course of the disease causes the destruction of lung tissue, sometimes with the formation of cavities (caverns). At the same time, the vascular bed is rebuilt: obliteration or growth of small vessels occurs, which causes subsequent bleeding.

Hemoptysis accompanies many infectious diseases of the respiratory system: bronchitis, pneumonia. Some bacteria have the ability to destroy lung tissue and increase pulmonary vascular permeability.

In the case of pneumonia, fever, chills, shortness of breath, chest pain, night sweats are added to the cough with blood streaks.

For children, hemoptysis is typical when aspiration (inhalation) of small objects – toys and their parts, pen caps, seeds.

If the foreign body has passed deeply, then there will be no pronounced shortness of breath and signs of suffocation. The only symptom may be a long, agonizing cough with a small amount of sputum, sometimes with blood.

Quite rarely, the cause of hemoptysis can be helminths (in particular, roundworms). During migration, parasites damage small vessels, which causes blood in the sputum.

Another cause of hemoptysis is bronchiectasis .

Bronchiectasis is an irreversible pathological expansion of the bronchi and bronchioles. Often occur in children with cystic fibrosis, with foreign body aspiration, whooping cough and frequent respiratory infections.

Sometimes bronchiectasis is congenital – in violation of the formation of the bronchial tree.

Quite often, the cause of the appearance of blood when coughing is traumatic injury to the chest . Hemorrhage occurs in the lung tissue with the release of part of the blood with sputum.

In adult patients, the causes of blood when coughing are more often cardiovascular pathologies. In diseases of the heart muscle, whether it be myocardial infarction, myocarditis , blood stasis occurs in the pulmonary circulation (in the lungs). Blood seeps through the capillary wall into the alveoli, the small sacs at the ends of the bronchi. The resulting mixture of alveolar fluid, bronchial mucus and blood comes out when you cough.

With a pronounced degree of acute heart failure, pink foam appears – an extreme manifestation of pulmonary edema.

Many heart defects also cause congestion in the lungs with shortness of breath and hemoptysis. With acquired heart defects, hemoptysis most often occurs in patients with mitral valve disease. Among the vascular diseases that cause sudden hemoptysis, 9 should be distinguished0033 pulmonary embolism (PE).

Hemoptysis accompanies about a third of all cases of PE. The main symptoms are severe shortness of breath, cough and chest pain.

More than half of patients with lung cancer have hemoptysis. The main risk group for the development of malignant neoplasms of the lungs includes smokers over 40 years of age. In the case of lung cancer, bleeding can occur when the tumor breaks down, after which the sputum mixes with blood and takes on the appearance of “raspberry jelly”.

Benign lung tumors rarely cause hemoptysis.

Relatively rare causes of coughing up blood include aneurysm and subsequent vessel rupture into the bronchus.

Congenital pathology of the blood coagulation system, for example, hemophilia , can cause both acute pulmonary hemorrhage and prolonged hemoptysis, small in volume. Hemoptysis may be one of the symptoms of various autoimmune pathologies . So, for example, with granulomatosis with polyangiitis (Wegener’s disease), inflammation of the vascular wall occurs with involvement of the upper and lower respiratory tract in the process.

Overdose of certain medicinal products with an increased risk of bleeding may lead to hemoptysis.

These drugs include: anticoagulants (warfarin, rivaroxaban, dabigatran), antiplatelet agents (acetylsalicylic acid, ticagrel).

The use of narcotic substances (in particular, cocaine) leads to damage to the vessels of the nasopharyngeal mucosa, followed by hemoptysis.

Which doctors should I contact if I cough up blood?

The appearance of blood when coughing requires a visit to a doctor of a therapeutic profile:
therapist or
pediatrician. After the examination, the doctor will prescribe a set of instrumental and laboratory tests and refer, if necessary, to a specialist. You may need to consult a pulmonologist, cardiologist, otolaryngologist, rheumatologist, phthisiatrician, oncologist.

If there is a suspicion of injury, heavy bleeding from the respiratory tract, dizziness, shortness of breath and rapid heartbeat, you should call an ambulance.

Diagnosis and examination for coughing up blood

During the examination, the following is carried out:

• clinical blood test;

Treatment of cough with blood

Depending on the amount of blood lost and the causes of the cough with blood, the doctor will prescribe various therapeutic measures.

Self-treatment is unacceptable, because it can lead to severe complications and death.

With heavy bleeding, surgical methods for stopping bleeding, transfusion of blood and its components are used.

If the cause of coughing up blood is tuberculosis or destructive pneumonia, various antibacterial drugs are prescribed. In the case of autoimmune pathology, immunosuppressive therapy with the use of glucocorticosteroids or cytostatics is used.

Treatment of cardiovascular pathology depends on the level of damage and the mechanism of development: for congestion in the pulmonary circulation due to heart failure, diuretic (diuretic) therapy is used, for pulmonary embolism – conservative (thrombolysis) or surgical methods of treatment and prevention of recurrent thrombosis.

If the bleeding is caused by medication, the doctor will adjust the therapy or note it if necessary.

What if you cough up blood?

In case of heavy bleeding, respiratory failure, loss of consciousness, severe pallor, palpitations, you should immediately call an ambulance.

If a person is conscious, you should calm him down, ask him not to talk, give him a semi-sitting position or lying on his side to avoid blood entering the respiratory tract.

If hemoptysis is accompanied by a small amount of blood, you should seek medical help for a thorough examination.

To reduce the risk of bleeding, it is necessary to stop smoking, walk in the fresh air, and, as prescribed by a doctor, perform breathing exercises and physical exercises.

Sources:

1. Clinical guidelines “TB in adults”. Developed by: Russian Society of Phthisiologists, Association of Phthisiologists. – 2022.
2. Clinical guidelines “Tuberculosis in children”. Developed by: Russian society of phthisiatricians. – 2020.
3. Clinical guidelines “Pulmonary hypertension, including chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension.” Developed by: Russian Society of Cardiology, Association of Cardiovascular Surgeons of Russia, Federation of Anesthesiologists and Resuscitators, Association of Rheumatologists of Russia, Russian Respiratory Society, National Congress of Radiologists. – 2020.

IMPORTANT!

The information in this section should not be used for self-diagnosis or self-treatment. In case of pain or other exacerbation of the disease, only the attending physician should prescribe diagnostic tests. For diagnosis and proper treatment, you should contact your doctor.
For a correct assessment of the results of your analyzes in dynamics, it is preferable to do studies in the same laboratory, since different laboratories can use different research methods and units of measurement to perform the same analyzes.

13 causes of coughing up blood, from harmless to deadly

Likbez

Health

April 20, 2020

Coughing up blood can occur both due to a common ARVI and due to a deadly disease.

This symptom is one not to be ignored.

If, covering your mouth with your hand while coughing, you find blood on the palm of your hand, and even more so if such episodes recur, consultation with a doctor is required!

And in some cases, medical attention is needed urgently.

When to seek immediate help

Dial 103, 112 or go to the nearest emergency room if:

• coughing up blood after a fall or chest injury;
• coughing up a lot of blood – 2 or more teaspoons;
• in addition to sputum, blood appeared in the stool or urine;
• hemoptysis (as the process of excretion of blood with sputum is called) is accompanied by other symptoms – chest pain, severe dizziness, fever, shortness of breath.

Such signs indicate serious disorders in the upper respiratory tract, lungs or cardiovascular system. If you do not immediately seek help, you can die.

Fortunately, hemoptysis does not always signal dangerous conditions.

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• Personal experience: I live in the USA during a pandemic

Where does blood in sputum come from

Here are some of the most common causes of blood clots when coughing up.

• Bronchitis. This is the most common cause of coughing up blood. And it is also one of the safest. Hemoptysis caused by bronchitis does not threaten health and quickly disappears as the underlying disease is treated.
• Excessive and prolonged cough that irritates the throat. Strenuous attempts to cough can lead to rupture of small blood vessels in the mucous membrane of the larynx. It’s annoying, but not dangerous.
• Inflammation of the paranasal sinuses. Sinusitis, frontal sinusitis can provoke slight bleeding. Blood drains into the nasopharynx and may become noticeable when coughing.
• Taking blood thinners. These include the popular aspirin.
• Foreign object in the airways.
• Pneumonia or other lung infections.
• Tuberculosis.
• Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. This is not one specific disease, but an umbrella term. It is used in situations where, for some reason, the flow of air into and out of the lungs is limited.
• Lung cancer. He, as well as other tumors of the bronchopulmonary system, cause hemoptysis in 20% of cases.
• Lung or bronchial injury.
• Pulmonary embolism. This is the name of damage to the lung tissue, which occurs due to blockage of one of the arteries by a thrombus.
• Vasculitis (inflammation of the walls of blood vessels) in the lungs.
• Severe diseases of the cardiovascular system. These include myocardial infarction, cardiomyopathy, heart defects. With problems with the heart, the pressure in the pulmonary blood vessels rises sharply, which can cause rupture of the vascular walls.

What to do if you have bloody sputum

If you have blood for the first time after a severe cough due to a cold, don’t worry. Most likely, we are talking about bronchitis or sinusitis. However, it is still worth visiting a therapist or ENT: the specialist will make an accurate diagnosis and prescribe the necessary medications. At the same time, he will suggest that you take a chest x-ray to make sure that there is no cause for concern.

If you coped with a cold or did not have it at all, but blood continues to appear in the sputum, you will have to undergo additional examinations. They will be appointed by the same therapist or otolaryngologist – after he asks you about your well-being, lifestyle, bad habits (for example, smoking).

Try to describe the symptoms in as much detail as possible. This is important for making a preliminary diagnosis. For example, if, in addition to hemoptysis, you have shortness of breath, the specialist will suspect cardiovascular problems – the same heart failure or mitral valve stenosis. If you have noted that you have recently lost weight, we can talk about tuberculosis or tumors of the bronchopulmonary system.

To confirm or refute this or that preliminary diagnosis, the doctor will give you a referral for one of the tests:

• Computed tomography (CT) of the chest. As part of this analysis, the physician will see the state of the organs of the respiratory system and the heart.
• Bronchoscopy. Your doctor will pass a bronchoscope (a thin, flexible tube with a camera on the end) through your nose or mouth into your airways to look for bleeding areas.
• Clinical blood test. First of all, it is needed to determine the number of white and red blood cells in your blood – they are markers of all kinds of inflammation.